Icy Night
by Kakashihasnicearms
Summary: A prodigy. A dangerous one. When her past comes back to haunt her, she goes into the darkness and becomes the strongest kunoichi with two kekkei genkai to live. Only, she has some loose ends to tie up, like Sasuke. With war looming, will she fight on their side or end up killing them all?
1. Snow

Sumiko opened her eyes and felt the cold air hit her face. Snow fell. She laughed a little. She turned to the cat that stayed with her.

"Ne, neko. What do you think this day holds for us?" she asked. The cat meowed. She sighed and closed her eyes. She sat in the alley, watching the faces of the villagers go by. She watched them with mild interest.

"Hey, here," a man gave her some money. She could count change relatively well; this was a lot. She sent him a questioning look. Black eyes met with black ones.

"Don't spend it all. It's supposed to last the week," he said.

"I see. You're Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Ninja, and user of the Sharingan. Thank you," her age didn't match her intelligence or, as he should say, attentiveness.

"You're a smart girl," he sighed and walked away. She got up and walked to the store, leaving behind her coat. She wore a black shirt with a hood that reached down to her mid-thigh and black pants. In a sense, she could be a raven, seeing that she had black hair, eyes, and clothes.

* * *

><p>"Itachi-nii!" a young boy tugged his older brother's shirt.<p>

"Hm?" Itachi looked at his brother.

"What do those taste like?" wide black eyes looked at the fruit with awe.

"They're sweet," Itachi said.

"Can we get one of those…" the child struggled to remember the name.

"Mangoes," Itachi supplied.

"Yeah!" a grin appeared. Itachi smiled a little. His younger brother was so cute.

"Can you hand me one?" a young girl reached for one.

"Yeah," Itachi looked for a ripe one and handed it to her.

The child looked miffed. How dare a random girl of all people take his brother's attention? The girl noticed his discomfort.

"I'm sorry, Uchiha Itachi-san, Uchiha Sasuke-san for causing a disturbance," she bowed deeply, knowing that the children of the Uchiha patriarch held a bit of power against an unknown orphan.

"Oh…it's okay," Sasuke felt guilt all of a sudden. She nodded and turned to pay for the large fruit.

"Wait," Sasuke called out. She turned, giving him a blank expression. Itachi was shocked. Why would a child his brother's age be so emotionless?

"Hai?"

"What's your name?" Sasuke looked uncomfortable. She narrowed her eyes. _It's a different reason._

"Sumiko," she responded.

"D-do you want to…" Sasuke frowned.

She waited patiently.

"To come to my house? It'll be fun…" Sasuke bit his lip, hoping she wouldn't reject his offer.

"Sure. I'll come at noon," she said and bowed and walked away.

Sasuke turned to his brother.

"What's noon?" Sasuke frowned.

"Don't worry. When that time comes, I'll tell you," he smiled. On the inside, Itachi felt more troubled. _This child knows who we are and how to tell time…whose child is she?_ Itachi looked at the list his mother had given him.

"Come along, Sasuke. Kaa-san has left us a few more things to buy," Itachi said.

* * *

><p>"This ain't enough, brat," the salesperson scowled at the young girl.<p>

"What?" she was confused. Had she not counted it right?

"More," he said simply, holding out an impatient hand. She nodded hesitantly. She handed him all of the money Hatake Kakashi had given her.

"Sir," a person said behind her. She turned and saw the two Uchiha's.

"That is more than enough to buy a dozen," Itachi glared.

"What's a brat like you going to do?" he smirked. Itachi sighed. He closed his eyes and opened them. Red eyes shone in the early morning.

"I'm very sorry, Uchiha Itachi-sama!" the clerk apologized profusely and gave her money back and her mango. Itachi and Sasuke carried the bags out and saw Sumiko leaning against a nearby wall peeling the mango with a kunai.

"Where did you get that?" Sasuke asked.

"I was given it," Sumiko half-lied. In reality, someone had thrown it at her, calling her a bastard, but it still counted as being 'given' it.

"Really?!" Sasuke's eyes shone with surprise and curiosity.

"Yeah," Sumiko bit into the mango as the last of the green and yellow peel fell to the ground. She threw the peels into an alley. Dogs came out and fought over it. She watched with no interest.

"_This world…"_ she whispered under her breath. Itachi narrowed his eyes.

"Me and nii-san have to go, but I'll see you later!" Sasuke grinned like he hadn't a care in the world. Sumiko envied him and pitied him at the same time. She sent Itachi a look of pity and Itachi understood at once. She shook her head in disbelief at Sasuke's innocence. Itachi waved and pulled Sasuke home as he tried to get back to her side. Sumiko threw the mango out after finishing eating the fleshy part and walked back to her post of begging.

* * *

><p>"Nii-san, guess what?" Sasuke grinned devilishly.<p>

"What?"

"That Sumiko is really pretty!" Sasuke smiled.

"Is that so?" their mother leaned in the doorway.

"Yeah!" Sasuke blushed a little.

"I'll have to meet her then. Where does she live?" she smiled and ruffled his hair.

"I don't know…" Sasuke admitted. Sasuke went to his room to prepare for her arrival.

"Itachi, do you know?" Mikoto asked.

"Yes," Itachi helped out put away the groceries. "She's an orphan."

Mikoto sighed. Trust Sasuke to make things difficult.

"Because of the ongoing war with Iwa, she isn't able to get a living space," Itachi stated.

"I know. I don't want Sasuke to be sad that this girl isn't what he expected: a girl with normal parents and such," Mikoto bit her lip.

"Mother, please don't worry so much," Itachi gave her a reassuring look. She smiled back.

* * *

><p>Sumiko walked around. She knew every alley, every street here in Konoha. She decided that she should see the other orphans again. They were easy to find if you knew how to look.<p>

_Found you_.

Blonde hair caught the obscured sunlight. Sumiko walked over.

"Don't be afraid. I'm another orphan," she said, knowing the code orphans on the streets knew to show that they meant no harm, especially to the most hated orphan.

"I know. You're famous among us orphans you know," he said.

"Am I? What do they say?" Sumiko grinned as she took a seat next to him.

"That you're strong and smart. You know how to count and read and tell time…where did you learn all this?" he asked. His underlying question was clear.

"A long time ago…" she sighed. She didn't want to be remember that day nearly two years ago.

"But…how?" he asked again.

"You're awfully curious. What do you want to know?" she knew what he wanted. She just wanted to mess with him.

"Because I want to learn how to read," he said.

"Maybe next time…" she sighed as she got up and left. She fingered the coins in her pocket and walked into the forest. She eventually found a watch in her pocket after looking. It read 11:45am. She leaned against a tree and pushed and pulled at her chakra. She could feel her chakra was different from the ninjas that jumped about. Theirs was a simple warm one. Hers was both dark and bright, but mostly icy.

She jumped down and walked to the Uchiha compound.

* * *

><p>"Hokage-sama," a jounin appeared in his office.<p>

"What, Kakashi?" he asked. "Something troubling you?"

"Yes. The child we found two years ago is accelerating at an astonishing pace," Kakashi said.

"What do you propose we do? We can't put her up on her own; we don't have the resources at this time," Hiruzen puffed out smoke.

"I was thinking that she should be put under the care of a couple who isn't in the reserves for the war. However, because of who she is, she needs to be placed under the care of people who were ninja who can protect her," Kakashi said.

Hiruzen studied the jounin. This situation begged the question: what about the other orphans? Specifically, the jinchuuriki.

"I approve. However, you must find this couple. You also have to find out who she is exactly to warn this couple of these risks. And," Hiruzen smiled. Kakashi felt chills go up his spine.

"What do you suppose we do about the jinchuuriki?"

"I…" Kakashi was at a loss for words. "I thought I was on a mission to stay away from him."

"True, so what do you propose to do with one of the most important children in this village?"

"Well, considering who and what he is, he should be placed in his own living space," Kakashi said nervously.

"And yet we don't do this with the girl?" Hiruzen enjoyed messing with him.

"We can't have them live together and the girl is special," Kakashi said, trying to steel his nerves.

"Oh? So you knew?" Hiruzen smirked as Kakashi was found red-handed going through classified documents.

"Yes, I'm very sorry Hokage-sama for going through classified documents," Kakashi bowed his head from his kneeling position.

"You went through classified documents?" _I am enjoying this too much!_

"Yes, please forgive me," Kakashi bit his lip.

"It's fine, seeing that you have the clearance to do so anyway. Had it been any other special jounin, I would've sent them out to the battlefield the moment I found out," Hiruzen smiled.

"Hokage-sama, I am going to find the girl and the boy," Kakashi was in a rush to leave.

"Go on," Hiruzen waved him away as he disappeared.

* * *

><p>"Demon brat!" Sumiko heard voices yell as she started walking.<p>

"Monster!"

"You should just die!"

Sumiko ran over. Her blood was boiling. How dare they call him, her friend, such things!

"Hey!" Sumiko yelled into the alley.

"Look, it's the outsider! Are ya gonna kill us with your outsider powers? Or are ya gonna protect your boyfriend with that stupid girly shit of yours?!" a man approached her.

Sumiko ran towards him, kicking him in the stomach with a chakra-enhanced kick. He went flying and trash and bricks fell on top of him.

It was a large mob. They kept their beatings of the blonde a secret from the prying eyes of the ANBU or Hokage. However, they were often too busy fighting in the war to protect the boy.

A few other men, all muscular and able to kill her if they really wanted to, stepped forward as the blonde kept being kicked.

Sumiko dodged an incoming fist and grabbed some snow to throw at the man's face. She tripped another and punched him, hearing the sound of a bone breaking under her fist, filled with chakra. She breathed hard and didn't react in time as a man picked her up by the neck and slammed her against the wall. She gritted her teeth as her side erupted in pain.

"No one hurts my little brother!" he screamed as he squeezed her small neck.

"Then…n-no one hurts m-my friend!" she laughed. Her laugh was cut short as she began to choke.

She moved her eyes slowly to her blonde friend's state. Her anger level exploded. _This…this isn't going to end up like two years ago!_

Ice spikes pushed the man away as blood seeped away from his wounds. Red eyes glared as cold as the icy spears at the women beating the blonde. _He's already unconscious but they continue!_ She screamed in anger and ice spikes stabbed them, not as deep, seeing that she didn't have the strength to stab a grown man and a couple women. Their brown eyes filled with fear as her newly reddened eyes stared into theirs, inducing a mild genjutsu. She dropped to her knees and crawled to her blonde friend's side.

"Naruto…wake up…" she shook him weakly.

"Damn outsider…you're a monster like that blonde," a man growled. She stood shakily and glared at him. Red met with light brown ones. He slumped; genjutsu.

"Naruto…hey…wake up," she pleaded as she sat down against the wall.

"S-sumiko?" a voice called from the alley. She closed her eyes and let the slight burning sensation dissipate. She looked at them again with black eyes and made out three figures.

"Hatake Kakashi and two Uchiha heirs…" Sumiko stated.

"Are you alright?!" Sasuke ran over, looking her over in deep concern for the girl.

"Y-yeah…but he isn't," she nodded in Naruto's direction.

"What was that ice jutsu?" Sasuke asked in awe.

"I don't know…" Sumiko turned her head up and watched the snowflakes fall harder.

"Kakashi-senpai, that was the sharingan and ice release…" Itachi was in shock as he whispered.

"Yeah," Kakashi put his hands in his pockets.

"I don't know of any missing Uchiha children though," Itachi shook his head. "Unless…"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "You're probably right," he motioned for Itachi to follow. He picked up Naruto as Itachi picked up Sumiko. Sasuke followed, complaining how he wanted to carry her.

* * *

><p>"<em>That<em> child?" a nurse asked, almost horrified.

"Yes. You must take her and heal her. If you don't, I'll bring hell here," Kakashi warned. Shizune ran over and scolded the nurse for being rude.

"Kakashi-san, I'll take both of them," she said and grabbed Naruto and Sumiko. Sasuke insisted on being beside Sumiko, so Itachi had no choice but to let him.

...

"Is she gonna be alright?" the little 5 year old asked.

"Now that I'm here, she'll be fine, both her and your friend," Shizune frowned at the boy. His wounds were already healing so she simply patched him up.

"Friend?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, he's your friend isn't he?" Shizune sat down on a chair as Sasuke sat on the edge of Sumiko's bed.

"I don't know…" Sasuke looked guiltily at the blonde.

"Well, you two are the same age. Plus, if he's her friend, that makes him your friend because Sumiko is your friend," Shizune explained.

"So, if I have another friend, that makes him and Sumiko-chan friends?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah," Shizune smiled at the little boy. He gave a big grin in return as she walked out.

"Uchiha-san…" Sumiko started.

"Sumiko-chan!" he hugged her. "Are you sure you're alright?" concerned eyes searched her matching black ones.

"I'm fine. Can you get Uchiha Itachi-san and the man that was with him?" Sumiko had questions and she was sure that they had answers.

"Yeah, wait here!" Sasuke ran off.

_Like I'd go anywhere…_ she sweatdropped.

* * *

><p>"I see what he means now," Hiruzen noted as he watched Sumiko's fight with Naruto's assailants over again. "That was a good call on his part," Hiruzen sighed. "Now to arrange for Naruto's apartment…" Hiruzen flicked his wrist and an ANBU came.<p>

"Hai, Hokage-sama?"

"Arrange for an apartment for Uzumaki Naruto," he said. The ANBU nodded and shunshined out. Hiruzen turned to look out at the village. Snow kept falling.


	2. War

"Mikoto-sama?" Kakashi knocked on her door. After that incident with Sumiko's sharingan, it only seemed natural for her to be with other Uchiha's.

"Yes, Kakashi-san?" she opened the door with Sasuke at her heels.  
>"You're that guy!" Sasuke pointed accusingly.<p>

"Sasuke, don't be rude," she scolded. "Kakashi-san, what is it?"

"I need to ask you privately," he said.

"Sasuke, go out and train. Kakashi-san and I have to talk boring adult things," she smiled. He pouted and went off.

Kakashi was served tea.

"Well, what is it?" Mikoto took a seat as well and sipped her tea.

"I'm sure you've heard about Naruto being protected by a fellow orphan," Kakashi said.

"Yes. What of it?"

"Hokage-sama has ordered me to look for a family that's willing to take her in," Kakashi glazed over the details.

"I'm sure there's more to this. Why pick the Uchiha?" Mikoto frowned.

"Because…" Kakashi lowered his voice to a whisper.

She leaned in.

"She has the sharingan at age 5," Kakashi said. Mikoto's eyes widened in shock.

"Is it because she protected Naruto?" Mikoto asked, worried for her best friend's child.

"Yeah…" Kakashi trailed on.

"And what?" Mikoto eagerly wanted more details.

"Nothing. She's a prodigy though. I don't know how or when, but she's probably on the level of a high genin in terms of intelligence," Kakashi sipped before continuing. "What I mean is, she can already read, tell time, and is very attentive. Children her age are in the state of sweet ignorance. If something is slightly amiss, they never notice. I'm sure you've observed in Sasuke. She can already access her chakra," Kakashi said. "That's pretty much it about this kid."

Mikoto studied him. She had a nagging feeling that this girl was even more special. Perhaps a better way to phrase that would be 'once-in-a-generation'.

"So, will you take her in? I suppose only until she's a genin," Kakashi noted.

"I'll have to consult Fugaku about this…but if you want my opinion only, I'd take her. Sasuke is obsessed with her. You should see how much he talks about the girl," Mikoto smirked.

"Thank you, Mikoto-sama," Kakashi stood and bowed.

"No problem. Come back tomorrow and I'll have the verdict for you," Mikoto waved as Kakashi walked out.

* * *

><p>"Could you buy me one?"<p>

Sumiko laughed. Hard.

"What's so funny?!" Naruto growled from his bed.

"It's just…" she howled. "Just…"

"What?!" Naruto scowled harder.

"I don't even know!" Sumiko collapsed, rolling on the floor.

Naruto clicked his tongue.

"You want to sneak out?" Naruto asked with a devilish grin.

Sumiko tried to sober herself. "T-to where?"

"Dunno. Just to get out of this boring place. Maybe you can teach me how to read."

"I see. This is all for your gain," Sumiko said. She walked over and jumped out the window.

"Come on, let's go. Hurry, the nurse is about to come in!" Sumiko grabbed his arm and pulled him out. She positioned him on her back. He held on tight as she jumped with chakra-enhanced jumps.

"So where did you want to go?" Naruto asked.

"The library," Sumiko said.

"Why?" Naruto crinkled his nose at the mention of a place completely useless to him.

"It'll be fun. Just come on," Sumiko went faster. _Let's go as fast as we can go!_

Sumiko's eyes widened as her world almost blurred.

"Hey there," a ninja appeared beside them, making her speed look slow compared to his easygoing way.

"Hatake Kakashi-san," she was mildly surprised.

"Where are you two off to?" Kakashi eye-smiled.

"Library," she said simply, erasing her facial emotions. She knew he was a person who pried into everything and anything he found interesting. She felt like she was on the top of that 'interesting things' list.

"What for?" Kakashi asked. Yep, that proves it.

"Books," she said.

"What kind?" Kakashi asked again. Sumiko smirked and her eyes glinted. Kakashi narrowed his eye.

"Not the kind that's in your back pocket, perv," Sumiko laughed as she slowed down and landed on the ground. Chakra-enhanced jumps were definitely something she needed to work on to be able to travel far.

"Hey! How does a little kid know that kind of stuff?!" Kakashi asked, enraged.

"Oh, easy. Two reasons: an orphan wanders. Anything, including what you adults call the 'red light district', interests them. And two—"

"What's the 'red light district'?" Naruto asked.

"The one with all the funny ladies," Sumiko reminded him.

"Ohh, I remember!" Naruto made a face.

"And two is specifically for me. People called my mother the prettiest lady they'd ever seen and my father was…" Sumiko's face darkened.

"Come on, Naruto. We're going. See you later, Hatake-san," Sumiko body flickered, taking Naruto with her.

* * *

><p>"I see that he's made a friend."<p>

"Yeah," Kakashi answered.

"But the girl, isn't she…?" Jiraiya frowned.

"Yeah. The one we picked up two years ago when we were in Kiri. It was a mess," Kakashi closed his eye.

"Is she as dangerous as we'd expected?" Jiraiya sighed.

"Yeah. At five, she already has the sharingan," Kakashi said.

"What?!" Jiraiya whipped around to look at him.

"I know. So young and yet having to bear a burden as large as that," Kakashi lowered his eye.

"Has the Hokage requested anything for her, like special training or anything? How about Minato's kid?" Jiraiya looked at Minato's stone face.

"No, but I suppose he's either mulling it over still or he's waiting for me to say something," Kakashi said.

"Do you want to train her?"

"Not particularly. But I have a bad feeling that she's going to need to be able to protect herself as soon as possible. Something is coming," Kakashi said.

"I've never seen you be so nervous," Jiraiya smirked.

"Jiraiya-sama, with the way she is now, people are going to be asking questions, wondering who and what she is. We have to play it off, make sure no one suspects her. It'll be better for her safety that way," Kakashi said.

"That's how we decided to deal with Naruto," Jiraiya said.

"I…" Kakashi started. Guilt welled up in him.

"What?"

"Feel guilty for the way they turned out. The way they turned out as lonely little kids. They shouldn't have to go through this," Kakashi gritted his teeth.

"Kakashi, do not forget we're in the middle of a war," Jiraiya said.

"I know," Kakashi looked at the setting sun.

An ANBU appeared.

"Hokage-sama has requested Hatake Kakashi and Jiraiya-sama," he said.

Kakashi and Jiraiya exchanged looks and went to the Hokage tower.

* * *

><p>"Sumiko you're so smart!" Naruto grinned.<p>

Sumiko looked at him.

"Ah, look here. It says that the Uzumaki clan was a clan renowned for its fuuinjutsu and longevity. And I'd bet that since your mom died when the Kyuubi attacked, her name is on the cenotaph in the Training Grounds," Sumiko said.

"The what?" Naruto cocked his head.

"Where you train to be a strong ninja," she said, sighing. "Just come on." She pulled him along. They ran all the way there.

"So, where is her name?" Naruto panted hard.

"Right…there," Sumiko pointed. "See, it says 'Uzumaki'."

"Really?" Naruto looked down.

"Yeah," Sumiko glanced at him. Naruto looked at the Hokage monument and at the cenotaph.

"What're you thinking?" Sumiko asked.

"I want to learn fuuinjutsu. I-I'm sure she'd be…" Naruto's voice cracked. "Proud."

Sumiko didn't comfort him. She knew orphans had to deal with the pain of not having parents. And as one, she didn't pity him.

"Naruto, that's a good idea. I wish I knew who my parents were…" Sumiko sighed.

"What should we do?" Sumiko sat against the cenotaph.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that if we get strong, we'll be sent out to the battlefield," Sumiko said.

"That won't happen," Kakashi appeared behind them.

"Hatake Kakashi," she turned and saw Jiraiya. She smirked. "And Jiraiya of the Sannin."

"What're you talking about?" Naruto asked.

"I mean that we have just gotten word that Iwa's army has been decimated by an unknown ninja. Sumiko, come with me," Kakashi offered a hand. She grabbed it and Jiraiya was left with Naruto.

"Are you really that strong or was Sumiko-chan just bluffing?" Naruto eyed the man.

"Of course I'm strong! The Hokage taught me! I also taught the Yondaime Hokage!" Jiraiya scowled.

"What makes you special?" Naruto frowned.

"I taught the Yondaime everything he knew about fuuinjutsu," Jiraiya grinned.

"Then will you teach me?" Naruto' eyes glimmered with hope.

Jiraiya didn't answer right away. Kakashi's words came back to him. He looked at the small boy, the spitting image of Minato. Guilt welled up inside him. _The only way I can make it up to Minato is to teach this brat…_ Jiraiya bit his lip.

"Do you think a brat like you can handle being taught by me?" Jiraiya smirked.

"Yeah! I'll work really hard!" Naruto balled his small fists.

"Well then, come back to this place tomorrow at noon," Jiraiya disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto grinned from ear to ear and jumped around in delight. Then he frowned. _What's noon?_

* * *

><p>"So what does this have to do with me?" Sumiko sighed. <em>Iwa's army had been decimated by an unknown nin and this somehow involves me. Who is this nin anyway?<em>

"The nin that took down their army wants you," Hiruzen said. Sumiko stiffened.

"Why?" Sumiko asked, angrily.

"We don't know. And we aren't giving you up either. And to this, he said he'd simply come and take you himself. You are being placed in the care of Hatake Kakashi until further notice," Hiruzen said.

Sumiko regarded the Hokage with anger and resentment.

"I want to know who this guy is and what he wants from me! If I'm going to be kept away from him, you'd better tell me when he tells you," Sumiko said. "Is that a deal?"

Hiruzen looked at the young girl with shock.

"Yes. Now go. You are to go with Kakashi," Hiruzen dismissed them. Kakashi took the girl's hand but she took her hand back. He sighed and walked out with her following.

"Where do you live anyway?" Sumiko glanced at the apartment buildings surrounding them as they walked.

"Here," Kakashi stopped.

Sumiko followed as he opened his door and let her in. She walked in, not wanting to touch anything.

"You're peculiar," Kakashi remarked.

"How so?" Sumiko glanced in his fridge, feeling hungry.

"Most five-year-olds want to run around and touch everything. You act cautious," Kakashi pulled out some instant ramen and filled a pot with water. Sumiko walked around his books and saw some scrolls, probably on jutsus. She grabbed one that she could reach and read it. It was on chakra and that every ninja has at least one chakra affinity. They included fire, wind, lightning, earth, and water.

"Sumiko, ramen's done," Kakashi called. Sumiko rolled the scroll back up and took it with her as she sat down at the low table.

"Itadakimasu," Sumiko picked up her chopsticks and dug in.

"Do you like it?" Kakashi asked, hoping she'd say yes, because that was all he could cook.

"It's okay," Sumiko said. "But I wouldn't want to eat it every day," she glanced at him and noticed that his pupils dilated a tiny bit. "No way…" her eyes widened.

"Yeah, sorry…" Kakashi rubbed his neck.

"Then I'm going to have to get a cookbook," Sumiko reached in her pocket and counted her money Kakashi had given her.

"They're expensive. I doubt I gave you enough," he said. Sumiko knew she'd be getting the cookbook one way or another so she left it at that.

"I have a question," Sumiko placed the scroll on the table.

Kakashi smiled a bit under his mask.

"Yeah?"  
>"What chakra affinity do you have?" Sumiko rolled out the scroll.<p>

"Mine is lightning and earth," Kakashi said. He waited for her inevitable question of 'what's mine?'

"What's mine?" Sumiko knew he knew.

"Hmmm…yours is water," Kakashi said. _We can't tell her now…we have to wait until she's older to know she has a rare kekkei genkai._

Sumiko nodded and put her dishes in the sink. Kakashi washed them as she read up on another scroll that she knew had other water style jutsus.

"Do you know how to do all these?" Sumiko gestured at all the scrolls. Kakashi nodded.

"How?" Sumiko frowned. "Isn't it impossible for ninja to have more than three affinities?"

"Well, I have the sharingan. It allows me to copy jutsus as long as they aren't kekkei genkai's," he said.

"Ah, so that's why you're called the Copy Ninja," she nodded.

"Yeah."

She got the feeling that she shouldn't be asking about his past.

"So, where do I sleep?" Sumiko fought down a yawn.

Kakashi stood and showed Sumiko her room. It was of a modest size with a simple futon and drawers and a window overlooking the village.

"Thank you for taking me in," Sumiko bowed to hide her tears of gratefulness. On the inside, she wondered if this was what is was like when someone was so kind to a lonely orphan. She decided that it was so. Kakashi felt uncomfortable because he didn't know what to do with a crying 5 year old.

"Yeah," Kakashi patted her head. She smiled a little and brushed her teeth and went to sleep.

Kakashi laid awake in his bed with many things in his mind. For example, Mikoto's answer to taking her in. After all, her staying with him was temporary…right? He grunted and turned over. She was already growing on him and now it would be hard to part with her…

**A/N I don't mean anything like shipping Kakashi and Sumiko…Anyway, see ya next chapter!**


	3. Dango

"That's okay, Kakashi. Fugaku said he needed more time anyway," Mikoto smiled.

"Well, since it's temporary, after this do you still want to take her in?" Kakashi felt depressed right after he said it. Being a smart woman, she saw it immediately and did him a favor.

"Kakashi, I'd love to, but I don't think it's a good idea. Besides, you don't really want to give her up, right?" Mikoto laughed a little.

"Mikoto-sama, it's nothing like that," Kakashi cringed under his mask.

"Don't be coy, Kakashi! Ninja like you are the ones who need to let out their feelings the most," Mikoto smirked. "However, I've got to train Sasuke with some shuriken, so I must be on my way," Mikoto stood.

"Actually, do you want to watch them spar?" Kakashi asked abruptly. Mikoto was slightly startled.

"Well, alright. You and I'll watch them," Mikoto nodded as Kakashi left to get Sumiko.

* * *

><p>Sumiko watched Naruto from a tree. Jiraiya was failing at making sure the boy's strokes were neat.<p>

"Naruto, don't shake so much. What're you scared of anyway?" Jiraiya frowned. Naruto glanced around. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow.

"W-well, that my friend Sumiko would make fun of me that I'm so bad at this…she'd laugh and not be my friend," Naruto wiped away tears.

Sumiko was taken aback. In her surprise, she lost concentration at hiding her chakra. Jiraiya noticed the slight burst and disappearance of chakra and glanced in her direction. _What should I do? Should I go down there or stay here? Or leave? _Sumiko remained frozen in place.

"Come down," Jiraiya called out. Naruto looked up in confusion.

Sumiko bit her lip and fled. _I can't…I can't stand seeing his sad face!_

"Where're you going?" Kakashi grabbed her collar, like a cat.

"What do you want?" Sumiko narrowed her eyes.

"We're going to have you spar against Sasuke," Kakashi said and disappeared in a swirl of leaves with her.

"Jiraiya, what was that?" Naruto poked him.

"Nothing, just the wind," Jiraiya waved it off and started from the top.

* * *

><p>Sumiko ran a hand through her hair and stepped on the dusty ground of the Uchiha training grounds.<p>

"Sumiko-chan!" Sasuke grinned and ran over to hug her. She sidestepped and poked his back, making him fall.

"Do I even have to use jutsus on you?" Sumiko sighed.

"Hey! I don't know any!" Sasuke pouted.

"Then I won't use any either," Sumiko said as she reached for a kunai.

"Just kunai and shuriken?" Sasuke asked, feeling a little better.

"But if I accidently use a jutsu, don't get mad," Sumiko warned.

"No fair! Kaa-san, teach me a jutsu!" Sasuke turned to his mother.

"Ready, start!" Mikoto avoided the question.

Sumiko charged at Sasuke, knocking the kunai out of his hand. Sasuke's mouth opened in shock and Sumiko stepped around him, putting the kunai to his neck.

"It's over already?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, sorry," Sumiko removed the kunai from his neck.

Sasuke looked bitter and sad. Sumiko cringed. _Why're they all like this?_ Sumiko stepped back.

She glanced at Kakashi for help and his stony face offered none.

"I-I…" Sumiko flushed, embarrassed.

"Huh?" Sasuke looked up.

"I could help you…get better…" Sumiko looked away.

"Really?!" Sasuke smiled and hugged her. Startled, she was frozen in place. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish.

"Sasuke-_chan_, you're scaring your girlfriend," Kakashi teased. Sasuke blushed and let go immediately.

"I'm not…" Sumiko started.

"It isn't…" Sasuke started.

"Stop it, Kakashi. They're just little kids," Mikoto punched his shoulder.

"Kaa-san?" Itachi poked his head out from the house.

"Itachi," Mikoto replied.

"Was Sasuke sparring with Sumiko?" Itachi asked, walking over.

"Yeah. Guess who won," Mikoto smiled. Itachi looked at her and the two 5 year olds carefully.

"Me!" Sasuke ran over to his brother and jumped in his lap. With his momentum, it only hurt more as Itachi poked his forehead.

"Sumiko did," Itachi said. "Sumiko-san, can I spar against you? Nothing held back," Itachi stood, letting Sasuke hit his butt on the ground.

"Hai, Uchiha-san," Sumiko bowed as he took his place in front of her.

"Begin!" Kakashi yelled out. From the bushes, Shisui watched their spar with amusement. _If Itachi loses not only is he going to be kicked out of the ANBU, he'll be the center of ridicule in this clan! _Shisui smirked.

Itachi didn't activate his sharingan. Sumiko took out a kunai and Itachi did the same. He jumped back and began to weave signs for the fireball jutsu and a ball of flames came rushing towards her. She weaved signs for a water style jutsu.

"Suiton: Teppōdama!" Sumiko felt the drain of the jutsu on her chakra as she spat out water balls. Itachi watched as the water produced steam as they hit. Sumiko jumped out of the way to be able to see. Itachi jumped behind her and Sumiko brought her kunai behind her as her body followed suit as she turned to stab him. He parried and engaged her in a taijutsu battle as her kunai went flying. A kick aimed for her head was dodged as she ducked and went behind him and tripped him. He fell back and did a backflip as she came running towards him. He analyzed her carefully. _She's holding another kunai…_ Itachi took out one as well and tried to dodge her kunai. It turned out to be her just clenching her fist in her sleeve as if she was holding one and she used her other hand to punch him in the stomach. It connected. She looked around and saw Sasuke still sitting on the ground.

"Kai!" she yelled as her surroundings returned to normal with Sasuke sitting next to his mother.

"I'm impressed," Itachi said.

"What're you talking about?" Sumiko asked. Itachi frowned as he saw the glint of ninja wire around him. _When…_ Itachi realized it was when she stepped out of the steam. She flicked her wrist and the ninja wire cut him to pieces. Her mouth opened slightly and she felt awful, for she'd just killed the Uchiha heir.

"I— " Sumiko's sentence was cut short as the real Itachi appeared behind her with a kunai at her neck. The body turned into a log and she felt relieved.

"I win," Itachi said and took the kunai from her neck.

"Yeah," Sumiko nodded and bowed.

"Sumiko-chan, you're so good!" Sasuke yelled as he ran towards her. She panted hard and didn't have the strength to sidestep fast enough so she let his hug happen.

"Nii-san, you were good too," Sasuke said. Itachi smiled, slightly angry. _What am I, an afterthought? Is this girl so important to him? _Itachi glanced at Sasuke's face and nodded. _Yep, Sasuke likes this girl._

"Good job, Sumiko. I'm sure you have more potential," Kakashi said as he patted her head. Sasuke scowled at him and whacked his hand away and held onto her tighter. Kakashi glanced at Mikoto and she sighed and nodded.

"I know," Mikoto said and pried Sasuke off of her.

"Sumiko-chan, do you want some tea or dango?" Mikoto asked as the five of them walked in.

"What's dango?" Sumiko asked. Immediately, she felt the cold gaze of Itachi's eyes on her and she glanced back, unafraid. Sasuke's mouth dropped to the floor.

"Y-you've never…" Sasuke started.

"No," Sumiko said shortly and took a seat as Mikoto served tea.

"I can't believe that!" Sasuke said, outraged.

"Sasuke, calm down. She'll understand once Kaa-san is done making the dango. Be patient," Itachi said. Sasuke nodded but still frowned. After a minute of silence, Sasuke couldn't take it.

"Sumiko-chan, what's your favorite color?" Sasuke asked.

"Black."

"Your favorite animal?"  
>"Cat."<p>

"Your likes?"

"Mangoes."

"Me too! Dislikes?"  
>"Mushrooms."<p>

"Hobbies?"

"Reading."

"You can read?!" Sasuke felt cheated. "Nii-san, why can't I read?"

"Because you haven't entered to the academy yet," Itachi answered.

"Anyway, Sumiko-chan, what is your favorite memory?" Sasuke asked.

Sumiko's eyes glazed over with a distant look. She bit her lip and looked at her hands.

"I don't have one."

"What? How can that be? Mine is eating tomatoes for the first time," Sasuke said. "What's your dream?"

"I…" Sumiko was at a loss for words. Two years' ago events were replaying over and over and she used all her willpower to not show any of it on her face.

"I haven't decided," Sumiko said.

"Hah? That's strange. I know what mine is: to be with you forever!" Sasuke blushed a little.

Sumiko gave him a quizzical look. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing…" Sasuke waved it off. Itachi smiled. Kakashi felt anger swirl in his chest, but didn't let it out. Itachi looked at his ANBU captain.

"What's wrong, Kakashi-senpai?" Itachi asked.

"Nothing," Kakashi said as Mikoto served the dango.

"Itadakimasu," Sumiko said quietly as she picked up a stick.

She bit into it and Sasuke watched her intently.

"It's…" Sumiko's eyes widened.

"What?" Sasuke asked, nervous.

"_Amazing!_" Sumiko ate hers in record time and devoured five other sticks. Sasuke took a stick and bit it, watching her with a contented feeling. He smiled at her and she smiled back. _Sumiko-chan is such a great person…_

* * *

><p>"I got it!" Naruto yelled as he punched his hand in the air.<p>

"Good job, kid," Jiraiya patted his head. He'd finally mastered a simple weight seal, one that could be used for training to improve speed.

"What can we learn next?" Naruto asked.

"Not too fast. That's it for today. It's getting late and you need your sleep," Jiraiya said.

"But…" Naruto started, but was silenced as Jiraiya gave him a meaningful look.

"Come on," Jiraiya walked him to his apartment. Naruto followed.

Silence stretched between the two of them for many minutes, but to Naruto's impatient mind, it was days.

"Why did you agree to train me so easily?" Naruto glanced at the man and saw the flash of pain in the man's eyes.

"I'll tell you later," Jiraiya said, walking over to Kakashi and Sumiko.

"Sumiko-chan, why're your clothes all dusty?" Naruto asked, running over.

"I sparred with Uchiha Itachi-san," Sumiko said. The two men were talking about something serious and she decided she could ask earlier.

"Whoa! Seriously?! Did you win?" Naruto's eyes widened and his eyes shone with surprise.

"Nah, but I beat Uchiha Sasuke-san," Sumiko replied.

"That guy's a pushover! I could beat him without even trying! Hahahaha!" Naruto grinned and rubbed his neck.

"He has potential. I'm sure that once he learns how to spar correctly, and a few jutsu, he'd beat me easily," Sumiko gazed at the setting sun.

"Sumiko-chan, what're you saying?! He'd never beat you!" Naruto took her hands in each of his. She pulled her hands back and gave him a slight pout.

"What's wrong? Did that Uchiha hurt your hands?" Naruto looked concerned.

"No, I'm fine," Sumiko turned to Jiraiya and Kakashi.

"Hatake-san, let's go. Naruto, Jiraiya-sama, it was nice seeing you two," she bowed and pushed Kakashi along. She dragged him until they were out of earshot. It was clear she wanted to get away as soon and as fast as possible.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi knelt to her eye level.

"Nothing, I just wanted to get home," Sumiko lied and followed him as they walked back to his apartment. Kakashi frowned but didn't say anything. He figured he'd be able to figure it out soon enough anyway. He stopped at his door and unlocked it and she ran in, opening the water style jutsu scroll again. He nonchalantly walked in and decided to try to make oyakodon.

After a few minutes, she looked up, smelling burnt food. She put the scroll down and walked over.

"Ano…Hatake-san…" Sumiko raised a brow.

"Hey there, Sumiko," Kakashi put the burnt and dry-looking chicken piece on the rice, which looked a little old. She took the other bowl of rice and smelled it.

"Hatake-san, this rice is a little…" Sumiko placed the bowl in the sink.

"Really?" Kakashi looked at her with surprise.

"Hatake-san, I do not want to be rude, but may I cook tonight's dinner in exchange for your training on a water style jutsu in that scroll?" Sumiko glanced at the scroll for a moment as she started washing rice.

"Yeah…" Kakashi walked over to the scroll and started reading it to pick one.

Sumiko rolled her sleeves up and put the rice on the stove. It wasn't a lot of rice, so it didn't take long for it to cook. After throwing away the burnt food and old rice, she let the pan soak with water so it would be easy to clean later. She washed the mitsuba and sliced up an onion. She found another pan and began to cook it, making sure nothing burned. However, she couldn't fathom how he managed to burn it if there was some water and soy sauce and mirin involved. Had he managed to cook all of it off? She shook her head as she poured the beaten egg over it. She fluffed up the rice with a rice paddle and divided it into two bowls. She divided the oyakodon as well and placed it over the rice.

"Hatake-san, it's ready," Sumiko said as she carried the bowls to the table. He stood and grabbed two pairs of chopsticks.

"Itadakimasu," Sumiko and Kakashi said as they started eating.

"Sumiko, where did you learn how to cook? I mean, orphans don't really have the opportunities to learn how to cook…" Kakashi trailed off, realizing how offensive it sounded, considering it was referring to nonexistent parents.

"It's alright. An…important person taught me. She was patient with me, even though I wasn't very good," Sumiko said, taking a small bite. "Anyway, what jutsu are you going to teach me?"

"I was thinking something simple, like the Mizu Kage Bunshin," Kakashi said. "This is really good," Kakashi finished his as she'd barely started hers.

"Sounds interesting," she said. Her voice betrayed her words; she seemed distant.

"Sumiko, I know something is bothering you. As your guardian, I'm not going to lie. As such, I expect the same from you," he said sternly.

"It's nothing," she insisted. _Please don't…_

"Don't lie to me. Tell me," Kakashi said, feeling slightly bad that he was being selfish, but he had to know.

She sent him a pleading look, only to be met by a serious one from him.

"Okay Hatake-san…" she relented. "I have always been troubled by it, and I have a rather grave conclusion," Sumiko looked him in the eye.

"About?" Kakashi asked.

"Naruto," Sumiko looked at him carefully, seeing his reaction. Whether or not he meant it, his pupils dilated slightly.

"Go on," Kakashi drawled.

"He's the one who the Yondaime Hokage sealed the Kyuubi in, right? It would explain the beatings and looks and insults of 'demon' he gets from the villagers. Most would say he is treated as such because he's an hyperactive orphan looking for attention, but after knowing a few other orphans, I realized he's treated completely different," Sumiko said.

"You'd be correct," Kakashi sighed in bitterness. "Sumiko, don't tell him. That's an order," Kakashi said, letting out some killer intent to make himself clear. After all, it was a law by the Hokage.

"I wasn't going to anyway. When he's older I'm sure someone will tell him. If I tell him later on, he'd feel betrayed that I kept the information from him and probably lash out," Sumiko said.

"As I said before, you're a smart kid. You'll be going to the academy in a year so I'll teach you some things so you won't get behind," Kakashi said.

"Really?" Sumiko asked, for once a glimmer of joy entering her eyes. Kakashi eye-smiled.

"Yeah. But be prepared for tomorrow. I'm not going to baby you just because you're a kid. I know your capabilities, so this'll be so much fun," Kakashi eye-smiled again. Sumiko cringed.

**A/N Kakashi shows his true colors at being a bad cook! Haha! And the academy is starting in a year! This is my fanfic, so I can start it either in three or one years. I picked one year so don't jump on my case about it. See ya next chapter!**


	4. Fever

**One Month Later**

Sumiko raced towards Kakashi, weaving signs for a water style jutsu.

"Suiton: Suiben," Sumiko whispered. Kakashi had said it was a waste of breath to whisper it and that it had the same effect whether or not it was yelled or not. She liked being quiet, so it suited her just fine. He's also said that jounin could just think the name and it would have the same effect, but it was because, of course, they were seasoned ninja.

Kakashi dodged and used an earth style technique she hadn't seen before. Suddenly, he was gone. Her eyes widened as she managed to jump in the air just in time as his hand came out of the ground, attempting to grab her. She used the kawarimi jutsu with a log as the rest of him came out of the ground. She used two mizu kage bunshin to weave ninja wire around the area in an intricate web in a matter of half a minute. However, during this time, she was weaving a water style jutsu's signs. Suddenly, Kakashi kicked her body into the water. She looked into the water and saw another Kakashi. _Bunshin, huh?_

She gritted her teeth as electricity rushed through her body via water. She gathered her chakra and jumped out of the water. She landed hard on the ground and flicked her wrist. Ninja wire surrounded both the clone and the real one, whichever it was. She watched with shock as they both disappeared. She whirled around and blocked his incoming kunai with the side of her wrist. She gritted her teeth harder as the cold blade cut her skin. Blood dripped down, but she began to weave signs for a mild genjutsu while he was close. She noticed he fell to his knees and then the water from her previous jutsu was draining into the hole from his earth style jutsu.

She frowned and looked for Kakashi. She didn't have to look; he came to her. She threw shuriken at him. She wasn't surprised as he dodged. She weaved signs for another water style jutsu but still felt something was wrong. She allowed her hands to drop.

"Kai!" she whispered and then her surroundings changed to Kakashi and her still standing there, with her bloody wrist.

She jumped back and weaved signs.

"Suiton: Mizudeppō," Sumiko whispered but was too late; his kunai was at her neck, firmly pressed so that any move she made would draw blood. She smirked and her body turned into a log. Kakashi glanced around. Sumiko weaved signs again.

"Suiton: Mizudeppō."

Sumiko raced to the other trees and threw shuriken and kunai at him. Her hiding bunshin came to rush at him and he easily turned them into puddles as they were taken down. He looked up to see her water style jutsu coming towards her. He allowed it to come close and then jumped into the ground, making it seem as if he was taken down. Sumiko wasn't fooled, though. She panted a little; this spar was taking a toll on her chakra reserves and body.

"It's over," Kakashi whispered behind her as she felt a kunai against her throat once again.

"Yeah," Sumiko agreed. _I didn't even sense his chakra come behind me…_

"Sumiko-chan!" two boys ran to her, glaring at one another as she struggled to catch her breath. Two men came behind them, walking over to Kakashi and Sumiko.

"So this is the girl Sasuke can't stop talking about?" Fugaku asked, seeming unimpressed.

"Yeah!" Sasuke said. He turned back to Naruto, glaring.

"Sumiko-chan is my friend!" Naruto pulled her hand one way.

"I sparred with her before you did! So I'm her first ninja friend!" Sasuke retorted.

"I knew her before you did!" Naruto growled.

"She's mine!" Sasuke stuck his tongue out as he pulled her and Naruto lost his grip and was forced to let go.

"Sumiko-chan which of us is your friend?" they both asked, their angry eyes turned on her. Her weary eyes glanced at blue and black ones.

"Both," she answered simply as she started a slow walk to a new stand where they sold something called 'taiyaki'. She'd been intrigued, so she decided to go.

"Sumiko, where're you going? Shouldn't you introduce yourself to Fugaku-sama?" Kakashi called out. Her eyes widened and she ran over.

"Please forgive my rudeness!" she bowed deeply. "I-I'm Sumiko," she said, still bowing.

"Sasuke talks about you a lot. I watched your match against Kakashi to see how good you really were," Fugaku said.

Sumiko didn't know what to say.

"T-thank you for taking the time to watch my spar," Sumiko said.

Fugaku didn't say anything.

"Go on, your friends are waiting for you," Jiraiya pushed her along. She bowed again and ran to Sasuke and Naruto.

"Those two were fighting over her~" Jiraiya smiled dangerously.

"Jiraiya-sama, you are not putting this in your book as some sick thing between children," Kakashi warned.

"So what if I think I will?" Jiraiya smirked.

Kakashi sighed and followed the three children to wherever Sumiko was going.

"Fugaku, what do you think of Sumiko?" Jiraiya asked.

"She seems like she has potential. I can see Sasuke's infatuation with this girl. Kakashi, who is she?" Fugaku narrowed his eyes at the jounin.

"Some kid we picked up in Kiri. We believe she carries a kekkei genkai," Kakashi said.

"Oh, is that so?" Fugaku frowned. "Do you know what they are or has the Hokage kept it a secret?"

"I'm afraid the Hokage has to tell you himself," Kakashi apologized.

"Now, where is this girl going?" Jiraiya mumbled.

* * *

><p>"This is delicious!" Sumiko said. Naruto looked unhappy eating his taiyaki.<p>

"What's wrong, dobe?" Sasuke asked, smirking.

"I don't like this, teme," Naruto glared back.

"Why?" Sumiko asked.

"It's not sweet enough," Naruto complained.

"It's sweet enough. I don't know what you're talking about," Sumiko took another bite from hers.

"So this is what you were talking about," Kakashi drawled.

"Yeah," Sumiko said.

"Sumiko-chan, Hokage-jii has given me an apartment! You wanna see?" Naruto grinned.

"Yeah," Sumiko nodded wearily. She was tired from the spar so she wasn't thinking straight.

"Let's go!" Naruto ran to his apartment, not noticing that Sasuke was walking with Sumiko. Sumiko was walking at her own pace and Sasuke took this as a golden opportunity to be without the loud blonde.

"Sumiko-chan, are you okay?" Sasuke asked, noticing that she was walking with staggered steps. Her world was becoming fuzzy and she collapsed.

"Sumiko-chan!" Sasuke screamed in fear. He shook her but she remained unconscious.

"Kakashi-san!" Sasuke yelled out as he came walking up, seemingly unconcerned.

"Jiraiya-sama, you saw it. She was pushing herself too hard," Kakashi said as he picked her up.

Naruto ran back.

"Oi, teme! What did you do to Sumiko-chan?!" Naruto went up to him in a rage.

"Nothing! She just collapsed like that!" Sasuke retorted.

"Naruto, Sumiko is tired. She's going home. Tomorrow she can see your apartment," Jiraiya said, saying goodbye to the two Uchiha's as the three parties walked their separate ways.

* * *

><p>Sumiko opened her eyes and immediately felt exhausted.<p>

"kakashi…" she whispered. She sniffed the air and it smelled like rice porridge. Her eyes moved around and she slowly sat up. Her body was in pain, but it was bearable.

She stood, but her legs felt weak and she fell back onto her bed. Because of this, she crawled out of her room and her world swam as the room kept shifting.

"Hey, you shouldn't be up," Kakashi picked her up. Nausea came in a wave as she was moved suddenly. He put a hand to her forehead and frowned.

"Your fever has gotten higher. Wait here," Kakashi said. Sumiko tried to weakly reach out for him to make him feed her, but he was already gone.

After what felt like an eternity, her eyes opened up again as a cool cloth soaked up the heat from her head and multiple voices filled her ears.

"…loud…" Sumiko whispered.

Kakashi nodded and sent out the two boys, muttering how they managed to get in.

"Kakashi, she needs to be fed to let her body have energy to fight off whatever got her sick. Flip the cloth over once the other side is too warm and make sure she stays in bed," an old woman's voice said. Sumiko glanced at the woman, not recognizing her.

"Who're you?" Sumiko asked as Kakashi spooned her porridge.

"I'm just an old lady in the building," she smiled as she flipped over Sumiko's head cloth.

"Thank…you," Sumiko closed her eyes and fell asleep immediately.

"Thanks, Yoshiko," Kakashi said as he ran to deal with the two five year olds who were in his apartment. How he managed to get stuck with them was a mystery to him.

"No problem," Yoshiko said as she let herself out.

* * *

><p>Kakashi looked at his sensei's son.<p>

"Naruto, do not touch anything. Do not eat the porridge and do not go in my room. You'll experience something worse than hell if you do," Kakashi looked at the blonde in the eye.

"You too, Sasuke," Kakashi said.

"Fine," the boys grumbled as they sat down at the low table.

"I'm hungry!" Naruto complained. Kakashi sighed and made two bowls of ramen, one for Sasuke and one for Naruto.

"There. Now don't mess with anything," Kakashi sighed.

"Kakashi-san, I don't like ramen," Sasuke complained.

"I'll eat his!" Naruto grabbed his bowl and used two pairs of chopsticks-one for each hand-to eat the ramen. Sasuke watched with horror as Naruto ate the ramen in a minute.

"That was the best!" Naruto patted his stomach. Kakashi's eyes glanced at him briefly before going to Sumiko's door. He stood and walked over, still worrying. The room exuded a cold air and he quickly slipped in her room, locking the door behind himself to make sure the two boys didn't go in and wake her up.

Kakashi's eye widened as a thin layer of ice was covering the bed. He felt her forehead and it was of normal temperature.

"That's good," he said, relieved. Sumiko stirred.

"Nii-san!" she screamed as ice spikes almost impaled Kakashi.

"Sumiko!" Kakashi said sternly.

She blinked and composed herself. She muttered an apology.

"Why're two other people here?" Sumiko asked, not able to recognize chakra signatures of certain people yet.

"Naruto and Sasuke were somehow placed in my care today," Kakashi sighed. "I don't even know how I said yes," Kakashi frowned. "In fact, I don't think I did at all."

Sumiko laughed a little and then walked over to Naruto and Sasuke.

"Hi, Naruto, Uchiha-san," Sumiko greeted and sat with them.

"Haha, teme! I'm closer to her than you are! 'Cause she has to be all polite and use that –san with you!" Naruto laughed. Sasuke looked shocked.

"Sumiko-chan, just call me Sasuke," Sasuke grinned at her. "Oh, Sumiko-chan, guess what?" Sasuke pranced around.

"What?" Sumiko asked.

"I learned a jutsu! Nii-san helped me!" Sasuke ran out the door.

"Hatake-san, Naruto, come on," Sumiko ran after Sasuke.

* * *

><p>Sasuke grinned at Sumiko and turned and weaved signs.<p>

"Fire style: Fireball jutsu!" Sasuke yelled as a huge fireball came out of his mouth.

"That's cool, Sasuke," Sumiko said, carefully saying his name.

"I know right!" Sasuke beamed at her with joy glimmering in his eyes.

"Hey, Sumiko-chan! I learned how to make a weight seal!" Naruto said as he whipped out a paper and ink and brush. Carefully making his strokes, he applied it on Sasuke's wrist and Sasuke suddenly felt a weight.

"Wow…" Sasuke said. "Get it off me."

"Ne, Sumiko-chan, what do you think? It's great for building your muscles and stuff right?" Naruto smiled sheepishly, hiding his fear that Sasuke was taking her away from him. After all, Sumiko was his first friend. That only made her more precious.

"That's great, Naruto," Sumiko said.

**A/N Slightly shorter by like, 500 words that the last chapter, but oh well. Sumiko falls ill and ice surrounds her! Naruto and Sasuke are vying for Sumiko's precious attention! **


	5. Iruka

**At the Academy (a year later)**

Sumiko stared off into space as Iruka droned on about chakra and the five types and affinities. Kakashi had already told her all of this so she wasn't interested.

Iruka had had enough of her defiance.

"We're having a pop quiz!" Iruka announced. He glanced at her and noticed that just like Sasuke, she kept a blank face. He handed out quizzes he'd originally decided to give the next day, but he decided he wanted to make her listen.

"And, if anyone answers the bonus question correctly, I'll buy everyone here taiyaki," Iruka said.

"Don't worry, sensei! I'll answer it perfectly!" Sakura yelled out.

"Shut it, forehead!" Ino yelled back.

"What did you say, Ino-pig?!" Sakura growled at the girl.

"Shush! Focus on the test!" Iruka said and sat down, watching for cheaters.

Sumiko answered the first questions with ease, but the last one, the bonus, one he wrote on the board, was something she wished that she didn't have to know the answer to.

It read, _What did Kirigakure no Sato do to which groups and why?_

Sumiko shook with anger. Why would he ever want to make 6 year olds know this?

She knew why he sprung this quiz so suddenly; to make her pay attention. She grinned.

"Iruka-sensei! You wanted me to pay attention to you huh?!" Sumiko grinned, a grin of pure anger and rage.

"Well, you have my full attention! Do you want the correct answer or not? Because I have it," Sumiko stood and raised her arms.

"Sumiko, sit down," Iruka said.

Sumiko glared at him and Iruka was startled at the amount of killer intent she released. She walked over to the board and wrote the answer:

"Kirigakure no Sato killed people with kekkei genkai during a time called the 'kekkei genkai purge'. They did this because of prejudice and fear of clans."

Iruka was shocked.

"That can't be right," Sakura said.

"It is…" Iruka watched her walk out. _How does she know?_

* * *

><p>Sumiko sat at the edge of a dock in a lake. She walked on the surface of the water and turned around when she sensed someone else there.<p>

"I take it school got out early?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah," Sumiko said.

"Really? Then why aren't Naruto and Sasuke with you?" Kakashi asked.

"I dismissed myself. You can talk to him, Iruka-sensei," she said as Iruka ran over.

"Sumiko, how did you know that?" Iruka asked, searching for answers.

"That's none of your concern," Sumiko said, glaring.

"Kakashi-senpai, please," Iruka turned to Kakashi.

"I'll let you figure that out. If Sumiko doesn't want to tell you, then that's her decision, not mine to make," Kakashi continued reading his book.

"Sumiko, please. I didn't mean to single you out," Iruka said.

"Oh? Then why did you spring the quiz today? I thought you said it was tomorrow," Sumiko said.

Iruka didn't respond. She saw through him easily.

"I just wanted you to pay attention," Iruka admitted.

"Then just scold me. Tell me. Don't act selfish and entitled that our respect is a given. Respect is _earned,_" Sumiko said, walking away.

"Wait!" Iruka said.

"What?" Sumiko glanced back.

"I'm sorry…" Iruka said.

"Yeah," Sumiko said, jumping on buildings to get back to Kakashi's apartment.

* * *

><p><strong>The Next Day<strong>

"We'll be doing a special kind of match. Using taijutsu, you'll spar against a random opponent and then you spar against the winner of another match until you are against me," Iruka said. "Come outside with me and we'll start."

Sumiko glanced at Sasuke and Naruto.

"Who do you think will be against me?" Naruto asked.

"Probably Sasuke," Sumiko said.

"You?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know. Maybe Hinata or something," she said.

"First: Uzumaki Naruto versus Uchiha Sasuke!" Iruka said. Sumiko glanced at Naruto to say, "I told you so."

The fight was fast; Sasuke won.

"Haruno Sakura versus Yamanaka Ino!"

Winner: Sakura.

"Nara Shikamaru versus Hyuuga Hinata!"

Winner by default (because it's Shikamaru): Hinata.

"Akimichi Chouji versus Aburame Shino!"

Winner: Shino.

The matches continued and Sumiko began to zone out again.

"Sumiko versus Inuzuka Kiba!"

Sumiko glanced at the boy. He smirked at her. Arrogance.

"Start!" Iruka said.

Sumiko raced towards him and he jumped in the air. Sumiko jumped, following him, and kicked his back, making a crack in the floor. He shakily stood and ran towards her. She sidestepped and tripped him, making him look like a fool. He whirled around but was kicked in the back hard. He lunged at her and she kept dodging him and landing clean blows.

Kiba growled at her and disappeared. He reappeared behind her and kicked her in the back. She turned and smirked.

"So be it," she said and moved so fast around him making kicks and punches on his face and stomach and back. He collapsed, a bloody mess. Sumiko panted slightly.

"Winner: Sumiko," Iruka said.

Sumiko sat against the tree where Naruto and Sasuke were.

"Hey," Sumiko greeted.

"That was amazing! You totally beat his ass!" Naruto said.

"Bet you can't beat me now that nii-san and kaa-san have trained me," Sasuke smirked.

"We'll see," Sumiko said.

"I won't lose to you!" he looked determined. "But you were good," Sasuke shyly looked at her.

"Now that the preliminary matches are completed, first up is Hyuuga Hinata versus Haruno Sakura," Iruka said.

Hinata clearly had the upper hand with her knowledge of juuken. Sakura had tried to demonstrate the academy style taijutsu, but it did little to help when she was up against a girl who trained in taijutsu for as long as she could remember, even if it was just memorizing the chakra points in the beginning.

In a minute, Sakura was on the ground, crying bitter tears. Sumiko regarded her as nothing more than an ordinary kunoichi.

"I-I'm sorry, Sakura-san!" Hinata bowed, almost crying because she knew how it felt to be beaten with juuken style techniques.

Sakura scowled and went to Sasuke.

"Hiya Sasuke-kun!" Sakura smiled brightly. Sasuke didn't look up until Sumiko nudged him.

"What were you even looking at?" Sumiko asked.

"I…uhm…" Sasuke looked away.

"Me, of course!" Sakura flipped her hair. Sumiko gave her a level look, which Sakura returned with a scowl.

"Why're you scowling at Sumiko-chan?" Sasuke asked.

"Because she gets on my nerves!" Sakura said, as if it were obvious.

"Hey! The next match is Sumiko versus Sasuke!" Iruka yelled again.

"Hai!" Sumiko ran over. Sasuke stepped in the ring, looking confident.

"Go Sumiko-chan!" Naruto yelled. Him and Hinata were the only ones not cheering for Sasuke.

With that, their battle had begun. A kick aimed for her head and she dodged. He followed that with a punch and she caught his fist in hers and tripped him as his feet landed on the ground. He landed on his butt and she knelt as she gripped his collar with a fist aimed for his face.

"Winner: Sumiko!" Iruka said. Sumiko bowed at the Uchiha as she stood.

Sumiko helped him up.

"Sorry, Sumiko-chan. I guess I was full of myself…" Sasuke apologized.

"It's alright," Sumiko smiled brightly at him and his face brightened.

Sakura and Ino and all the other girls were fuming (except for Hinata).

"Sumiko!" Sakura yelled out. Sumiko looked up and gazed at them with a glazed look.

"We need to talk to you after school!" Sakura smirked. Sumiko frowned but nodded.

The other few matches continued until it was Sumiko against Iruka. She readied herself and knew that as a Chuunin, he was much more skilled than her. She gathered her chakra and began to move at speeds that he was surprised she was able to attain. Only, he underestimated her. Being trained for a measly month under the famous Hatake Kakashi made her dangerous if the enemy severely underestimated a child. The kicks and jabs and punches came too fast as he tried to block and understand her capabilities. Even after he'd lost he was still trying to wrap his head around her capacities.

"Good job, Sumiko," Iruka said. She bowed and thanked him and began to talk with Naruto and Sasuke. Iruka passed out report cards and sent them home.

* * *

><p>"What did you want?" Sumiko asked, wanting to get home instead of being stuck with the Sasuke fanclub.<p>

"Stay away from our Sasuke-kun!" one of the girls attempted to slap her. Sumiko easily caught her wrist. She gasped and pulled her hand away.

"If you don't stay away from him, we'll hurt you and Naruto!" Sakura said. Sumiko kept her face blank.

"Oh? How are you going to do that?" Sumiko asked. They stepped back and frowned.

"You'll see, freak!" one of them screamed and they all ran away.

Sumiko stood there. _Freak? Is it because I get better grades than them? Or…is there something wrong with me? _Sumiko bit her lip and walked home, feeling empty.

* * *

><p>"Hatake-san," she called out. Kakashi stuck his head out from his room. "Yes?"<p>

"I got my report card," she said, her face blank. She wanted his reaction to be untouched.

"Let me see," he grabbed it and read it.

Unimpressed was his face, in a word.

"You're not surprised?" Sumiko asked, unbelieving.

"Not that you're first in your whole graduating class, no. Nor am I that you beat Iruka in your spar in the academy today," he said and went back into his room. She sighed. Suddenly his door opened and he patted her head.

"Good job, Sumiko," he eye-smiled.

**A/N Sorry it's getting shorter I promise the next one will be longer! Back to the story, Sumiko won! She's the best in her class! But the Sasuke fanclub hates her! Time jump next chapter so…yeah.**


	6. Uchiha

The night was chilly. Sumiko and Sasuke had been invited to dinner with the Uchiha's, but had forgotten all about it because they'd trained all afternoon and into early night. They shivered slightly as they ran back home. Sumiko sensed it, the danger.

"Wait—" Sumiko called out but was too late. Bodies of dead Uchiha covered the streets. Sasuke shook.

"Sumiko…" he started. "Let's go find my parents!" Sasuke pulled her along as she ran with him. She wanted to protect him from what he was about to witness, but he would stop at nothing to find them. As she ran, her mind began to blank and her eyes felt a sharp pain. She stopped and covered her eyes with her hands.

"Sumiko-chan?" Sasuke asked.

"I-I'm fine," she lied as she opened her eyes and saw Sasuke's chakra. She fought down her surprise and went to Sasuke's house at the other side of the compound.

"Sasuke, this isn't a good idea…" Sumiko said.

"Sumiko-chan…your eyes!" he exclaimed.

"What?" Sumiko asked as she walked to Sasukes' parent's room. He opened the door and neither of them were prepared to witness the dead bodies of the Uchiha leaders, and their killer, Uchiha Itachi.

"Nii-san…" Sasuke started. "Who killed them?!"

Sumiko placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Sumiko, I didn't expect you to be here," Itachi said.

"Nii-san!" Sasuke yelled, tears streaming down his face. "Who killed tou-san and kaa-san?!"

"Sasuke, it was Itachi," Sumiko said.

"No…" Sasuke cringed.

Itachi nodded. And with that, Sasuke glanced at his brother and collapsed.

"Hey, what did you do to Sasuke?!" Sumiko growled as she glared at him.

"You were an Uchiha?" Itachi asked.

"What're you talking about?!" Sumiko said, pulling Sasuke up. He weakly opened his eyes and all she could see was fear.

"You have the sharingan," Itachi said as he disappeared. Sumiko ran outside with Sasuke on her back.

"Itachi!" she yelled.

"Then…if you killed all the Uchiha, why spare Sasuke?" Sumiko yelled.

Sasuke shook himself off her back.

"I wish to speak to Sasuke alone," Itachi said as his sharingan morphed into a pinwheel. Sumiko gazed into it, confused, but then memories of many years ago resurfaced. She screamed in her mind as Itachi spoke to Sasuke of coming back to him with the same eyes as him. In her mind, Sumiko tried desperately to break the genjutsu, but realized a cold fact: she was stuck in reality. Her memories, and this night, were part of reality. She couldn't escape it…

After what felt like an eternity, she opened her eyes to see Sasuke knock Itachi's hitai-ate off. Tears streamed down Itachi's face as Sasuke's eyes had the blazing red ones of an Uchiha. Sumiko shakily stood and her emotions came flooding to her as Itachi's genjutsu replayed again. Ice spears kept trying to stab the 14-year-old Uchiha, but he kept dodging. Her screams of anger and fear pierced the air as more ice covered the ground.

Suddenly, Itachi appeared next to her.

"_Take care of Sasuke," _he said as he disappeared past the village gates. Sumiko didn't let Sasuke go after him. Sasuke yelled in frustration and anger. Sumiko glanced at him and understood his pain. The pain of being an orphan, of losing everyone he loved.

Sumiko embraced Sasuke and he gladly returned the hug. He cried in her shirt and they both collapsed on the streets of the Uchiha compound.

* * *

><p>Sumiko awoke to white. White everything. She looked to her left and saw Sasuke lying in a bed. In a chair, passed out, was Kakashi. Sumiko got up, not thinking. She felt like she just had to comfort Sasuke. She climbed in his bed and hugged his neck. His body was warm, even though his mind was now of a cold avenger. Quiet tears came to her. She cried herself to sleep and awoke again to night. Darkness was everything now. Silvery hair shone in the moonlight.<p>

"Kakashi?" she asked. Sasuke stirred as well.

"Sumiko?!" he asked, almost frightened.

"Are you two okay?" Kakashi asked.

Sumiko nodded and Sasuke did as well.

"Well, they've released you two. And, under my care…" Kakashi sighed as he picked up the two children.

* * *

><p>"What?" Sasuke asked. "Does this mean I'm living with you and Sumiko?" Sasuke rubbed his eyes as Kakashi jumped over buildings.<p>

"Yeah," Kakashi said.

Silence engulfed them. Sumiko remembered a small fact: they had the academy to attend.  
>She saw the murdered people, just as much as Sasuke had. And Itachi was the killer. She wondered wearily what Sasuke must be thinking. Revenge? Fear? She shook her head.<br>"Sumiko?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah?"

"What happened five nights ago?"

"What do you mean, five nights?" she asked.

"I mean the two of you were out of it due to mental damage for five days and nights," Kakashi said.

* * *

><p>Sumiko woke up at dawn. She looked at the calendar and saw that it was a Monday. Academy. She glanced at Sasuke with concern.<p>

"Sasuke…" she whispered. He remained asleep. She quietly got dressed and started to prepare breakfast and lunches. She purposely moved slowly to kill time. When she looked up again, she saw Sasuke standing there. She handed him a bowl of miso soup with tofu and wakame in it.

"Thanks," he said. He sipped some of it. "This is really good," he said, smiling slightly in what seemed like an eternity of darkness. She was beginning to worry, but she'd never say that to him. She wondered why she wouldn't. What should she be afraid of? It was just Sasuke.

"I see both of you are up," Kakashi eye-smiled. He wasn't met with a smile.

Darkness continues even in the bright morning.

"Bento is done. Breakfast is ready," she said, setting the last chopstick on the table.

They ate their breakfast in silence. In a few minutes, Sasuke and Sumiko set out for the academy awfully early. They jumped on buildings to avoid any of their classmates.

* * *

><p>Sumiko took a seat next to Sasuke who put himself in his usual seat in the corner.<p>

"Ne, Sumiko," Sasuke whispered.

"Hm?" Sumiko asked.

"I feel like…you understand what it's like to have a family and then…lose them," Sasuke said. "So…I don't want to lose you like I lost everyone else. That's why…from here on out, let's share everything with each other so there's no way we can lose each other," Sasuke's eyes were filled with pleading.

"If you've got my back then, I've got yours," she said and slightly smiled.

"Agreed, Sumiko," he said.

Sumiko put her head on the desk and waited for the class to start. Her short black hair fell over her neck and she twisted it around her finger. The voices carrying the tale of five days ago, the night of the Uchiha Massacre trailed across the class.

"Why were you with Sasuke when we'd warned you?" Sakura slapped her across her face.

"You'd never understand," Sumiko said, her eyes flashing red. She didn't mean it, it just happened. Sakura gasped and ran to her stupid fanclub.

That day, Sumiko didn't pay attention at all. Iruka had said Sasuke and her were exempt from a test, saying that they had to stay after to catch up. After they learned all the information, Sasuke and Sumiko took the test. With perfect scores, they left. They walked to eat taiyaki at a stand and Sumiko noticed Naruto slurping ramen at Ichiraku ramen.

"Sasuke, let's go home," she said, pulling him along. He followed dutifully and they both completed their homework and Sumiko went to prepare dinner while Sasuke read one of the fire release scrolls.

Kakashi stepped out of his room and observed them. The looks on their faces were mirrored in the sense that they looked broken.

* * *

><p><strong>Graduation Day<strong>

Sumiko and Sasuke passed with flying colors. Rookie of the Year was Sumiko and runner up was Sasuke.

Iruka had said to come the next day for team assignments. Sumiko and Sasuke did just that.

"Team 7 is Uchiha Sasuke, Sumiko, and Uzumaki Naruto," Iruka announced.

Sumiko exchanged looks with Sasuke. The question was mutual: how did Naruto graduate? Sumiko glanced at Naruto and saw his smiling face. She smiled a little.

"Your jounin sensei's will come soon so wait here," Iruka said and left after many teams left, not including Sakura or Ino's team. Sakura was on a team with two other boys she didn't know.

"Sumiko!" Sakura screeched.

"What?" Sumiko asked.

"How is it that you're on a team with Sasuke?!" Sakura demanded. Ino nodded furiously, wanting to know as well.

"Ask Hokage-sama," Sumiko said, staring off into space.

Sakura gritted her teeth and punched Sumiko across her face. Sumiko was caught off guard and fell over.

"What's on your mind?" Sumiko asked flatly.

"You! You think you're better because you are the top in the class and how Sasuke is always beside you, but if he knew the true you, he'd hate you!" Sakura yelled.

"Sakura, are you jealous?" Sumiko asked.

"As if I'd be jealous of someone as low as you!" Sakura spat.

"Sakura, what good will being jealous of me do? You'll only hold your potential back," Sumiko said. Sakura screamed and tried to punch her again. This time, Sumiko caught her fist easily.

"I never thought I was better than you. If you believe you're better than me, prove it," Sumiko sighed and let go of Sakura's fist. Sakura tried to punch her again but Sumiko simply tripped her and Sakura landed, hard.

"Oi, oi, Stop fighting, Sakura," a man at the door said. Behind him was Kakashi.

"You're…" Sumiko's eyes widened. He turned to her and smiled.

"I'm Yamato. I'm looking for Haruno Sakura, Hanara Kei, and Sakuragi Sorata," he said. The three of them got up and followed him out.

"And the great Hatake Kakashi arrives," Sumiko sighed. "Why're you always late?"

"Follow me to the roof," he said.

* * *

><p>"I'll do introductions even though I know everyone," Kakashi said. "Sumiko, you're first."<p>

Sumiko nodded. "I'm Sumiko. I like dango but I don't like ramen very much. My hobbies are cooking and reading. My dream is to help my friends achieve their own dreams," Sumiko said.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke. I like dango but I hate ramen. My hobby is reading. My dream is to kill a certain person," Sasuke said. Sumiko glanced at him and he glanced back. _Don't worry._

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I hate tomatoes, but I love ramen! My hobby is trying different types of ramen! My dream is to become Hokage!" Naruto grinned.

Kakashi nodded.

"Tomorrow we have a mission. Be on the training grounds at 7am. Don't eat breakfast," he eye-smiled and disappeared.

"What a jerk," Naruto complained. "Makes us talk and then leaves."

"Sasuke, should we go home or get something to eat?" Sumiko asked.

"Hey, you two are always together. What's up with that?" Naruto asked, following them to a restaurant.

Sumiko glanced at Sasuke, as if for permission. He nodded hesitantly.

"Naruto, as our teammate and friend, I suppose it's time you know," Sumiko said, sitting down at a dango restaurant.

"What?" Naruto asked, suddenly intrigued.

"I was there at the Uchiha Massacre with Sasuke. Because of that, we understood each other's pain of knowing parents and then having them murdered. And on that night, I unlocked my sharingan," she said. Sasuke frowned. _How come I didn't unlock mine?_

"You're an Uchiha?!" Naruto asked loudly.

"Shhh!" Sumiko said.

"But…really?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. I don't know how, but I am," Sumiko said. She glanced at Sasuke again and he shook his head again.

"Well, that's it…for now," Sumiko said.

"Long time no see!" an old man greeted, sitting next to them as their dango was served.

"Jiraiya-sama?" Sumiko asked.

"Yeah!"

"Where the hell were you, Jiraiya?!" Naruto growled. "You train me for a year and then you leave!"

"I was doing research!" Jiraiya huffed. "But it looks like you three graduated. And Sumiko and Sasuke are closer," Jiraiya smiled.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"I mean that you are practically twins always together. What happened?" Jiraiya raised his brows and smiled dangerously.

Sumiko sighed. "I'm going to only repeat it again," she sighed. "Sasuke and I used to have parents. Then we lost them to murderers. We understand each other, and we found out that I'm an Uchiha," Sumiko said, knowing he knew more about her than he'd say. She got that impression from everyone with high rank.

"Is that so?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yeah. We've got a mission tomorrow and we can't miss it," Sumiko said, standing. "It was nice seeing you."

"Likewise," Jiraiya said, eating their leftover stick. Naruto stayed behind, wanting to talk to Jiraiya.

**A/N This chapter probably was rushed feeling. Sorry about that.**


	7. Umi

"Honestly, who do you think we are?" Sumiko sighed. "Do you take us for idiots? Not even Naruto fell for it."

Naruto sweated a little. _I didn't even see it…_

"Yeah," Kakashi agreed. "But one of you still has to be tied up."

"Hah?!" Sumiko was shocked. "No way! We saw through the bells! They're just a distraction! The way you set up the mission was like a real one with, "the intent to kill", and everything! Didn't we have perfect teamwork?" Sumiko asked, exasperated.

"If you're not going to decide, I'll choose for you," Kakashi said coldly. "Naruto."

With that, Naruto had to watch in horror as the two black haired teens ate lunch. Sumiko glanced at Naruto.

"Open up," she said, with her chopsticks poised at his mouth with rice.

Naruto obeyed and ate the rice.

"Thanks Sumiko-chan!" he grinned.

A strong wind blew suddenly and killer intent flooded the air.

"What did I tell you?!" Kakashi asked angrily.

"Teamwork," Sumiko and Sasuke responded in sync.

Kakashi sighed. "You pass."

Sumiko smiled at Sasuke and he smirked back. Naruto's ropes were undone and they went to the village.

* * *

><p>"Asuma said that his team and Kurenai and Yamato's team had passed. So, do you three want to eat dinner at yakiniku?" Kakashi asked.<p>

"We've never been, so let's go," Sasuke said. With an arm around Sumiko's shoulders the two walked in silence with Naruto and Kakashi following.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto started.

"Hm?" Kakashi asked.

"Why're those two always sticking to each other?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know," Kakashi said. "Do you have a problem?"

"No, it's just that…" Naruto paused. "Just that I don't want Sumiko-chan to get hurt."

"I see…" Kakashi sighed.

A green blur entered Kakashi's vision.

"My eternal rival!" Guy yelled.

Kakashi walked past him and entered the restaurant.

Hushed voices came from the table with the other genin.

"Is that really that Sumiko girl you were talking about, Sakura-san?" Sorata asked. Sakura nodded smugly.

"She seems nice though," Kei said.

"You'll see her true colors soon," Sakura assured them.

Team 7 sat down, with Sasuke making sure no one tried to speak to Sumiko. He knew that the girls had it out for Sumiko. As about why, he had no idea. Naruto babbled on and on and soon enough, Ino had had enough.

"Why can't you just shut up? Don't you see how no one gets to talk because you're so loud?" Ino glared. Naruto was taken aback.

"Leave him alone," Sumiko glared back, her eyes cold.

"Oh? What're you going to do? Just sit and glare?" Ino asked.

Sumiko quietly weaved handseals. Soon, slugs in the form of water would creep on her. She just had to wait.

"Or are you going to act all high and mighty?" Ino challenged. Sumiko continued to eat her food, not paying attention to the blonde.

"Well?" Ino was getting annoyed. And nervous. How come she'd fallen silent? What was she planning?

As Sumiko bit into her mango flavored mochi ice cream, Ino screamed.

"Slugs!" Ino swatted them away but when she did, they exploded and after killing all of them, she was soaked.

"You did this!" Ino pointed a finger accusingly.

"Prove it," she said, taking all of the mango mochi.

"I don't have to! You're the only one who can use more jutsu than us!" Ino said.

"What if that's the only jutsu I know?" Sumiko asked, filling her mouth with the mango mochi.

"It's not!" Ino insisted.

"You're not her teammate, so you can't talk about her abilities like you know her," Sasuke spoke up. He turned to continue his fight over the mango mochi. Sumiko glared but he didn't back down.

"Sasuke-kun!" Ino screamed, feeling betrayed.

"Shut up," Sasuke growled, glaring at her as cold as he could. With that, the rest of the girls were subdued.

Hinata had the last mango mochi. Sumiko's charcoal eyes turned slowly to the white-eyed girl.

"Hey there, Hinata-san," Sumiko grinned. Hinata smiled awkwardly.

"I-I-I was g-g-going to g-g-give this m-mochi to N-N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata turned bright red. Sumiko grabbed it with lightning speed and placed it on Naruto's plate.

"Eat it. Hinata-san wants you to eat it," Sumiko said. Naruto grinned gratefully at Hinata. She fainted.

* * *

><p>"Sumiko."<p>

"Hm?" Sumiko looked up as her and Sasuke were heading home.

"We need to talk to you," Kei and Sorata said. Sumiko turned and walked over, but Sasuke stopped her.

"Don't," Sasuke said.

"Why not?" Sumiko frowned.

"I'll deal with them. You stay out of it," Sasuke said. This was probably the first time Sasuke acted like this, so she obeyed, watching from the shadows.

"What do you want with Sumiko?" Sasuke demanded.

"Word is that she's a cruel person who only exists to hurt you and Sakura. As Sakura's teammates, we can't allow that," they said.

"If you hurt her, I'm going to make your lives so miserable, you'll be begging for death," Sasuke promised.

"What's your deal with her? You're awfully protective over her. Is she your girlfriend?" Kei asked. His response was a kick to the face and a punch to the stomach.

"We're going to find out what kind of person she is, no matter what you do. When we find out, we're going to tear her apart," Sorata said, helping Kei up.

"Then find out! She's nothing like what Sakura says! Sakura is only jealous because Sumiko did better than her in everything and was the Rookie of the Year," Sasuke growled, walking away.

"Sumiko!" Sasuke called out and Sumiko came out of the shadows.

They nodded, an unspoken message. With that, they walked home.

* * *

><p><strong>A Few Weeks Later<strong>

"I'm tired of D-rank missions! Give us something fun!" Naruto complained. Hiruzen was sick and tired of it.

"Fine. C-rank mission: protect this man on his journey back to the Land of Waves," Hiruzen sighed, blowing out smoke.

"Yeah!" Naruto grinned, throwing up a fist in the air. A man walked in.

"Brats are going to protect me?" he complained, taking another swig from his sake.

At the village gates, Sumiko and Sasuke and Kakashi and Tazuna waited for Naruto. After a ten agonizing minutes due to the complaining old man, Naruto finally came.

"Sorry I'm late!" Naruto yelled as they started walking past the village gates.

A puddle of water. With that, Sumiko stepped on it, freezing it. Now to see how they'd struggle, whoever they were. Sumiko glanced at Sasuke and he nodded, taking out a kunai.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, seeing the matching serious faces of Sumiko and Sasuke. Suddenly, the puddle exploded revealing an enemy nin. He raced for Kakashi, but Sumiko and Sasuke got to him, taking him down with taijutsu. The way they moved was like they were mirroring each other.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sumiko yelled out, warning him of the other nin.

Kakashi simply caught him with his arm and knocked him unconscious.

Naruto was in shock. He hadn't seen anything.

"Naruto, are you okay?" Sumiko asked, seeing the cut on his hand.

"I'm going to protect myself from now on!" he said as he stabbed his hand.

Sumiko sighed and the rest of them continued, letting Naruto catch up.

"Tazuna, what was that? Why did rogue nin attack us?" Kakashi narrowed his eye.

"I'm sorry. I lied. People want to kill me because I'd be bringing the economy back to the Land of Waves. Those people are hired by a cruel tycoon named Gato, set on making sure the Land of Waves remains poor.

"Sumiko, Sasuke, Naruto. Should we continue this mission or let this man go home?" Kakashi turned to his students.

"Let's continue it!" Naruto frowned, determined to prove his worth because Sumiko and Sasuke had to protect him.

Kakashi nodded and they continued their way to the Land of Waves.

* * *

><p>Then he appeared.<p>

"Momochi Zabuza, nuke-nin of Kirigakure no Sato. One of it's skilled ANBU, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen," Kakashi said, narrowing his eyes as he pulled up his hitai-ate.

Naruto, Sumiko, and Sasuke moved to protect Zabuza.

"Looks like I'm going to have to kill you before I get to the old man," Zabuza said, jumping on the water.

* * *

><p>After Zabuza was killed by a hunter nin from Kiri, Kakashi collapsed.<p>

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled.

Sumiko stood frozen in place, staring at where the hunter nin had been on a tree.

"Sumiko?" Sasuke asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Sumiko," Sasuke said again.

"Oh, I'm fine," she smiled and helped carry Kakashi back to the village.

Memories flooded back. Memories of her home came back to her, even though the snow didn't fall. Her mother…her father…She bit her lip. _I can't dwell on the past. _She walked to the kitchen in the bridge builder's house and helped prepare dinner.

"Thank you," the woman said. Sumiko merely nodded as she chopped up carrots.

By dinnertime, Kakashi still wasn't awake. Naruto seemed overly worried, but she knew he'd wake up. After dinner, she got dressed for bed and laid on her futon. Apart from Naruto's snoring, it was quiet. She turned and saw Sasuke also awake.

"Do you know what I think?" she asked.

"What?" he turned over to look at her.

"That Zabuza isn't dead. Did you see how the hunter nin avoided vital spots?" Sumiko asked.

"That's a problem," Sasuke said.

"Still, we have perhaps…a week until he comes back. Kakashi really had an impact on him," Sumiko said. "We've got to sleep."

"Yeah, good night," Sasuke said. He lay awake, waiting to hear her breathing even out until he slept. In a tired haze, he felt a person crawl to be near him. He turned and saw pale skin and black hair. He smiled and closed his eyes. Sumiko was safe, for now.

* * *

><p>"Climb the tree," Kakashi said. "Mark your progress with kunai marks," Kakashi said, leaning on a tree. Sumiko exhaled and ran up the tree in one shot. Sasuke got halfway up and Naruto wasn't anywhere close. He gritted his teeth and kept trying.<p>

"Sumiko."  
>"Sumiko-chan!"<p>

Sumiko looked down.

"What?" she asked.

"Tell us how you did it so quickly," the two boys said. Upon realizing they were in sync, Sasuke glared at Naruto. _Sumiko is the only one who I allow to be in sync with me, not you, idiot!_

"I trust you two as my teammates to figure out. After all, the Uchiha heir and Hokage have to start somewhere," Sumiko said, sitting beside Kakashi as she jumped down.

By nightfall, Sasuke came back.

"Naruto is still out training," Sasuke said.

"Really?" Sumiko asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Sasuke said as Sumiko gave him a bowl of soup.

"He said he'd come back soon, so don't worry. Plus, it's Naruto. He won't die without letting the whole world know beforehand," Sasuke smirked.

**The Next Morning**

"Sumiko, go get Naruto," Kakashi said the next morning.

Sumiko nodded and went out.

"Kakashi-sensei, how did she manage to climb the tree so fast?" Sasuke asked.

"She has excellent chakra control. She also has a little more than the average genin, so that explains why she'd been at the top of her class," Kakashi said.

"And, I was wondering about something else. When she'd protected Naruto in that alley all those years ago, ice suddenly appeared, and again when the night of the Uchiha Massacre happened when she chased off Itachi," Sasuke's mouth felt bitter after saying his name.

Kakashi debated whether or not to tell him. He decided not.

"It's nothing," Kakashi said. Sasuke knew he was lying, but it was better to hear it from her anyway. Sasuke sighed and went back to his room to read.

* * *

><p>"Naruto, where have you been?" Sumiko asked.<p>

"Sorry, Sumiko-chan! I was training!" Naruto grinned sheepishly.

"It's fine, but everyone is waiting," Sumiko said and they began to walk back to the house.

"Hey, guess what, Sumiko-chan?" Naruto grinned.

"What?"

"I met this really pretty girl! She taught me about herbs or something…" Naruto frowned. "You know, now that I think about it, you two look similar. Except for your black eyes. Hers were brown," Naruto said, looking at Sumiko. Sumiko gritted her teeth and walked faster, not giving him any explanation. _They said that he was dead! Konoha lied to me!_

* * *

><p>Sumiko sat on the roof, wanting peace. After Naruto had said what he'd said, she didn't want to think about it. Nor did she want to talk. <em>Maybe I shouldn't talk at all?<em>

She shook her head. _That's stupid._

"Sumiko?" Sasuke climbed on the roof.

Sumiko turned and glared.

"No," Sasuke said, not backing down. Her being alone meant something was wrong. And because Sumiko had tendencies to bottle up her feelings and then one day be volatile, she needed to let it out, whatever it was.

"Go away," she said verbally. Apparently her glare wasn't enough.

"No," Sasuke repeated.

Sumiko sighed, knowing that he wouldn't back down now.

"What's wrong? Did Naruto do something to you?" Sasuke's eyes shone with concern. She looked away. _What's wrong with me?_

"Not him," Sumiko didn't know how to word the next part.

"Then what?"

"You know how I'm from Kiri?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, being here reminds me of what happened nine years ago," Sumiko said.

"You don't mean…" Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Yeah. I'm just hoping that nothing goes wrong and that you won't get hurt," Sumiko said.

"Sumiko, don't worry," Sasuke bit his lip. "I'll always protect you!" he blurted out. He slapped a hand over his mouth and looked away. _Why did I say that?!_

Sumiko stared at him, not knowing what to do.

"Sasuke, I—" Sumiko started.

"Sumiko, come down for a minute," Kakashi yelled.

Sumiko glanced at Sasuke and then jumped down.

"What?" Sumiko asked. She saw his nervous face, even if it was just his eye.

"I have been meaning to give you this, and I know it's a bad time, but here it is," Kakashi handed her a scroll. She was shocked. He never gave her anything, much less a scroll with jutsu.

"I'm sure you've noticed that the sharingan isn't your only kekkei genkai," Kakashi lowered his voice. She nodded, opening the scroll. As her charcoal colored eyes fell over the words, she inhaled sharply.

"Kakashi-sensei…" Sumiko started. She didn't know what to say. "Is it…really okay for me to learn this?" she glanced up at Kakashi, worried he'd say no.

"Sumiko, then what other reason would I give it to you?" Kakashi sighed. "Learn these. I have a bad feeling that Zabuza is still alive," Kakashi said. She nodded and went back on the roof.

"What did he want?" Sasuke asked.

"He gave me this scroll," she handed it to him.

He read it, and his face was unreadable.

"No way…" Sasuke said.

"He said that Zabuza might still be alive. I think we have maybe 5 days until he comes back, and Kakashi-sensei wants me to learn these. I'm going to go train with this. You want to spar with your fire style against mine?" Sumiko smirked.

"Yeah," Sasuke got up and they walked to the forest.

* * *

><p>"Zabuza-sama, she's here," Haku said.<p>

"The girl that Konoha wouldn't give up? I still don't know why you didn't infiltrate that damned village and take her yourself," Zabuza muttered.

"It's easier this way," Haku said.

"Why do you even want a brat with you?" Zabuza grumbled.

Haku didn't respond.

"I'm going to gather more herbs," Haku said, pulling his pink kimono on and leaving.

**A/N It was Haku who took down Iwa's armies! Sumiko has a new scroll! What could be in it?! Find out next chapter!**


	8. Precious People

"Ice Release: Ice Shards," Sumiko whispered and sharp ice shards came out of her mouth and flew at Sasuke.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower jutsu!" Sasuke yelled and fireballs flew at ice. The ice pierced the fire and turned out to be shuriken. Sasuke jumped to dodge.

"Fire Release: Flame Bullet," Sasuke said as fire came back to Sumiko.

"Ice Release: Ice Shield," Sumiko said as an ice wall came up to protect her. The ice melted and Sumiko grinned.

"Water Release: Absorb," Sumiko sent her chakra through the damp ground and the ground became icy due to her ice chakra.

Sasuke landed back on the ground and suddenly felt stuck, but still slipped. He found that he couldn't get up.

"Fire Release: Burning Flames," Sasuke allowed a ball of fire to envelop him and the ice melted.

"Ice Release: Snow genjutsu," Sumiko said as her chakra from the ground took hold of Sasuke's. In reality, snow began to cover Sasuke. After a minute, he was completely covered. At the same time, Sasuke's chakra broke free of Sumiko's.

"Fire Release: Great Flame Sphere!" Sumiko's snow melted and the Uchiha came rushing towards her, completely soaked.

"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!" Sasuke yelled as bullets of fire came to Sumiko.

"Ice Release: Ice Bullet!" Sumiko said as ice bullets rushed at Sasuke. They both jumped to avoid it, and they weaved more signs.

"Ice Release: Ice Dragon!" Sumiko felt the last of her chakra drain with that jutsu. Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled as his fireball came to the dragon. He watched in shock as his fire jutsu wasn't enough. The ice dragon raced towards him and he dodged.

Sumiko panted hard. She leaned against a tree and closed her eyes, focusing on catching her breath. Sasuke weaved more seals and more fire exploded on it. After another fireball jutsu, it seemed to begin to melt. After two more jutsus, it melted completely. He glanced at where Sumiko was and walked over, panting.

"Sumiko, that was—" Sasuke inhaled sharply as he tripped over a tree root. He felt Sumiko catch him and he opened his eyes. He was face to face with Sumiko, and for some reason, he moved closer. It just…felt right. After a few seconds, he was kissing Sumiko lightly. He moved his arms to bring her closer and she blushed harder.

They broke the kiss after a minute or so.

"Sorry," Sasuke muttered as he sat down, leaning on the tree.

"No, it's my fault," Sumiko said. He glanced at Sumiko and saw she was staring at her hands, still blushing. He smirked.

"What's wrong, _Sumiko-chan_?" Sasuke asked.

"I…I…" Sumiko stuttered.

"Hm?" Sasuke turned to look at her. She shyly looked back and smiled a little.

"I think you like me," Sasuke grinned. "Do you?"

"I…It's…!" Sumiko cringed and tried to crawl away from Sasuke, but he grabbed her wrist firmly.

"If it makes you any better, I'd say I'm starting to like you too," Sasuke looked away, his cool lost.

"Huh?" Sumiko's eyes widened.

"Yeah…ever since I met you," Sasuke said, slightly blushing. Sumiko thought she was imagining it.

"Me too…" Sumiko whispered and then ran off, shaking Sasuke off of her.

"Sumiko!" Sasuke yelled, running after her.

Sumiko ran as fast as she could, even though she couldn't use chakra.

"Wait!" Sasuke yelled. "Stop!" Sumiko looked back and saw he was getting farther away. Suddenly, she felt someone pick her up by her collar, like a cat.

"Why're you running?" Kakashi asked, suspicious. "Did Sasuke hurt you?"

Sumiko's face reddened and she tried to swat his hand away, only to have him catch both her hands in his.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked, getting angry.

"Nothing!" Sumiko yelled, hearing Sasuke's footsteps again

"Really? Then why is Sasuke running after you?" Kakashi asked. Sasuke walked over, making his face emotionless.

"Sasuke, what's wrong with Sumiko?" Kakashi asked.

"Nothing," Sasuke replied slightly too quickly.

"Liar. But, it's dinnertime. I'll squeeze it out of both of you eventually," Kakashi eye-smiled. Sumiko cringed and hid behind Sasuke.

"Hey, why're you hiding behind me?! He's after both of us!" Sasuke hissed.

"You'll always protect me, ne?" Sumiko smiled. _He's put himself in a corner! Ha!_

Sasuke glared but walked with her and Kakashi back to the house.

* * *

><p>The atmosphere wasn't uncomfortable even though Sasuke and Sumiko were still slightly awkward. Kakashi frowned under his mask. <em>They're not making it obvious. This is going to be harder than I'd thought. Maa, they didn't put me in ANBU if I wasn't good at reconnaissance. <em>Kakashi continued to eat his soup.

"Sumiko, this soup is really good. Sasuke, don't you think Sumiko is really great at cooking? Is she good at anything else?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah. Kicking your ass in combination with me," Sasuke glared.

"Oh, Sasuke don't be mean. Your Sumiko wouldn't like that," Kakashi sang.

"I do. Go away, perv," Sumiko deadpanned. Kakashi sweatdropped.

After dinner, Kakashi called them over.

"What?" they asked in sync, their eyes blank.

"Don't give me that. What happened to make Sumiko react like that?" Kakashi crossed his arms. Sumiko glanced at Sasuke and he shook his head.

"Sasuke tried to stab me after I beat his ass at training with those new jutsus," Sumiko said.

"Lie. I felt your blood pressure rise after you said that," Kakashi said. "We can do this the hard way to the easy way and you tell me exactly what happened."

Sumiko glanced at Sasuke and he sighed. He gave Sumiko another pleading look and she simply gave him a look.

"Fine," Sasuke sighed. "I was walking over to Sumiko after our match and I tripped on a tree root. We ended up…" Sasuke looked away. Kakashi was more than pissed. He was so livid that he could've killed the last full Uchiha right then and there. Instead, he glared.

"If you hurt Sumiko, I'll kill you," Kakashi let out a lot of killer intent.

"What makes you think I would?" Sasuke asked, getting angry. "Sumiko and I are the last Uchiha. Like we'd separate," Sasuke scoffed.

"Yeah. We're two sides of the same coin. My dream is to help my friends achieve theirs. Sasuke's is to kill Itachi. As another Uchiha, I also share that dream. A nuke-nin like that must pay," Sumiko said, activating her sharingan to exemplify her point.

Kakashi sighed. Perhaps now they'd stay together. Kakashi dismissed them and they went off somewhere, probably to read.

* * *

><p><strong>A Few Days Later<strong>

"Sumiko, Sasuke! We've got to go!" Kakashi yelled as he ran into their room. Sumiko was already dressed in her normal black attire except for a necklace.

"Huh?" Sumiko asked. "Is it Zabuza?"

"Yeah. Let's go!" Kakashi said as Sumiko and Sasuke ran out, leaving Naruto behind. Naruto had gone out to practice again and he was exhausted, so he stayed at the house.

Jumping on trees, they hurried to the bridge. After running at full speed, they arrived.

"Zabuza!" Kakashi yelled.

"Kakashi," he replied. The hunter nin was there as well. Sumiko gritted her teeth and summoned a clone to protect Tazuna. Sumiko and Sasuke ran at the hunter nin. Sumiko weaved more signs and she had a spear made of ice. She tried to hold back her tears, but they came. Memories of all those years ago came flooding back along with betrayal.

"Nii-san!" she screamed as she infused chakra in her feet and ran faster.

"Sumiko!" Sasuke ran after her, not fast enough. The hunter nin tensed slightly but weaved one-handed signs.

"Ice Release: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals," Haku said and ice mirrors surrounded Sumiko and Sasuke.

"Ice Release: Ice Shards!" Sumiko yelled as ice shards pierced the ice mirrors.

_No way! She broke my mirror!_

Haku threw senbon and Sumiko and Sasuke gritted their teeth.

"Sasuke, I only know one wind technique. I'll amplify your fire release," Sumiko said.

"Yeah," Sasuke said and weaved signs for the fireball jutsu. Sumiko and Sasuke released their techniques in perfect unison. A searing hot fireball tried to crack through Haku's ice mirrors.

"It's useless. You two will die in here," Haku said.

"You wouldn't kill me if you tried, you traitor!" Sumiko spat as she activated her sharingan.

"So you've unlocked Uncle's kekkei genkai," Haku noted as he threw more senbon.

"Uncle?" Sumiko asked, shocked.

Haku didn't respond as he watched her face contort in pain.

"Ice Release: Ice Genjutsu," Sumiko said, staring into one of the mirrors.

"Ice Release: Snow Storm!" Sumiko summoned half of her chakra to bury Haku's mirrors in snow.

"Ice Release: Ice Dragon!" Sumiko yelled. A dragon raced towards Haku, who had jumped out.

"Sumiko, stop! You're pushing yourself," Sasuke said.

"Shut up! He has to die!" Sumiko yelled back, her eyes filled with hate. She ran towards Haku. Haku had ice spears ready to stab her, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to kill her. Sasuke didn't see his hesitation and jumped in front of her.

"Stop!" Sasuke yelled. Sumiko stopped a foot away from Sasuke.

"What's your problem!? You understand my hate for siblings! Let me do this!" Sumiko yelled.

Sasuke didn't respond. Suddenly, he spat out blood and collapsed.

"Su…mi...ko…" Sasuke said weakly and his eyes closed. Sumiko felt tears and saw Haku's ice spears covered in blood.

Sumiko screamed and ice spears erupted all across the bridge, trapping Haku.

"Sumiko, wait!" Haku said. "I have something to tell you!"

"Like I'd listen to trash like you! You left me!" Sumiko screamed. Her sharingan had gained another tomoe. Still, she didn't kill him. Snow fell harder.

"I was a coward…" Haku admitted. "I didn't look for you because I though my father had killed you already," Haku bit his lip. Sumiko pulled off his mask and saw a face she thought she'd never see again.

"Your father? He's mine too," Sumiko scoffed.

"No, we're cousins. He died along with his wife, my mother's sister. You were too young to remember…so we just took you in as my sister," Haku said.

"That doesn't change anything," Sumiko glared. "You simply left me! I was lucky that Kakashi-sensei picked me up as your father tried to kill me. And you, you got out in the distraction."

"You know something?" Haku smiled softly.

Sumiko scowled.

"I was the one that requested you after I took down most of Iwa's armies," Haku said.

"What?" Sumiko asked, stunned.

"Yeah. I figured that you'd want to see me, but I guess not. Did Konoha treat you well?" Haku asked.

"I was a damned orphan! At age five, I unlocked my sharingan and ice release! I was treated like dirt, and my dream is to help Naruto and Sasuke achieve their own dreams," Sumiko declared.

"I'm glad," Haku smiled. Sumiko gritted her teeth.

"Why didn't you come to look for me?" Sumiko asked bitterly.

"I was scared. I didn't want to find out that you might be dead, so I simply made it seem like you didn't exist. When word came of a little girl picked up by Konoha ninjas, I looked into it. I was surprised and shocked that you were alive, but I thought that you were happy in Konoha, and I didn't want to pull you away from that. But now, I know that you're content," Haku said.

"I'm not! I've got blood on my hands and a man I've got to kill," Sumiko retorted. "And you too, for killing Sasuke!" Sumiko blinked tears away and her face turned stony. She pulled out a kunai and tried to up it down to his neck. At the last moment, it stopped. Her kunai shook.

"Why can't I do it? Why can't I kill you?!" Sumiko screamed as she fell to her knees, sobbing. "You killed a precious person of mine, and yet I can't kill you!"

"It's because I'm one of your precious people," Haku said.

"Lie! I hate you! You aren't one of my precious people! I have to kill you!" Sumiko argued.

"Do you truly believe that?" Haku asked coldly.

Sumiko looked up at him in shock. "What're you talking about? You killed Sasuke. I have to kill you now," Sumiko repeated.

"A precious person's life can't be exchanged for another. If I die, Sasuke's life won't be repaid. It will never. A person's life is priceless," Haku explained. "That's why I didn't pull you away from your life, because I knew that you wouldn't be happy," Haku smiled.

Sumiko didn't know that to say. _He couldn't be one of my precious people. He killed one of them and left me all alone…how can someone that terrible be at the same level as Sasuke or Kakashi?_

* * *

><p>Kakashi finished up his fight with Zabuza with Naruto's help. Kakashi walked over to where Sumiko and Sasuke were.<p>

He wasn't prepared to see both his students collapsed.

"Sumiko! Sasuke!" Kakashi ran over.

"What did you do?!" Kakashi yelled at Haku.

Haku didn't say anything.

"You…you killed my first friend!" Naruto whispered. His eyes turned red and his whisker marks deepened. He roared and charged at Haku. Haku closed his eyes, knowing that since Zabuza was dead, he had no purpose. He waited for a deathblow that never came. He opened his eyes to see Sumiko had taken the blow for him. Naruto's claws had gone straight through Sumiko's chest, hopefully missing her heart. She coughed and blood covered his sleeve. Tears flowed from his eyes as he pulled his hand from her chest. She collapsed and turned to face Haku.

"You…were right…nii-san…" she whispered. Sasuke stirred as she began to close her eyes.

"Sumiko!" he screamed. The last thing she saw was his reddening eyes. _Sasuke…_

**A/N Sumiko is stabbed! Sasuke unlocked his sharingan! See ya next chapter!**


	9. Strength

He felt his world fall apart. Without Sumiko, he was nothing. It felt like he couldn't go on living. His chakra became colder and he narrowed his eyes at Haku. Killer intent spread across the air. The team Konoha had sent to assist Team 7, Sakura' team, was in shock. The famous Sumiko had been taken down, nuke-nin Zabuza had been killed, and Sasuke's bloodlust levels were as high as the sky was.

"Sasuke-kun! Stop!" Sakura screamed as she ran towards him. "Please!" Upon hearing this, he got angrier. How dare a weak kunoichi tell him to stop? How is she to understand his pain? He took out a kunai and threw it at Sakura, narrowly missing her. Kei and Sorata ran over and knelt by Sumiko and placed their hands over Sumiko's wound. A greenish chakra became visible.

"Leave her alone!" Sasuke growled and kicked them away, sending them flying about 100ft. He looked at Sumiko and was shocked to see ice slowly covering her wound.

"That's the ultimate protection…not even I could achieve that. How did she manage to learn it? With it, she's the most powerful ice release shinobi," Haku said, staring at Sumiko. After a few minutes, ice covered her entire body. Sasuke weaved signs, ready to destroy Haku, and then Naruto. Fireballs of an even greater intensity shot out of his mouth.

"Kakashi-senpai, should we restrain Sasuke?" Yamato came over to Kakashi, who looked visibly tired.

"Yeah, Haku might end up killing Sasuke. Plus, Haku seems to know more about ice release, so he could prove to be a valuable asset," Kakashi said. Haku dodged and appeared beside Kakashi.

"You're right. For example, the ice covering her won't disappear unless another ice user dispels it," Haku said. Kakashi nodded and Yamato used his wood style to restrain Sasuke.

"Oi! What do you think you're doing?! Don't you see he has to die?!" Sasuke yelled.

"Sasuke, as another ice user, only he can free Sumiko from it," Yamato said.

"Liar! He just doesn't want to die!" Sasuke yelled.

"Sasuke, look at me for a second," Kakashi said. Sasuke turned angrily and was met with his sharingan. With that, Sasuke was under a rather strong genjutsu.

"Still, Sasuke has a point," Yamato said.

"Yeah," Kakashi nodded. "Haku, we can't trust you until we get to the village and have you interrogated," Kakashi said coldly. Haku nodded.

"So, in order to make sure you don't try to kill anyone here," Kakashi started. He placed a seal on Haku. "This seal will make you explode if I channel enough chakra in it if you act up."

"Yeah," Haku nodded. It wasn't like they could trust him immediately. He was the enemy earlier after all.

Gato's men arrived minutes later. Yamato went to Gato after evading many of the men's attacks. Then he managed to kill Gato by throwing him into the water.

"There, now the Land of Waves won't be troubled by him anymore," Yamato said, wet from being in the water.

"Thank you so much for saving the Land of Waves!" Tazuna said. "In her honor, I'm going to name it the Sumiko bridge," Tazuna looked at the ice covered girl with pity.

* * *

><p>With that, the two teams made their way to Konoha. Kei and Sorata were discussing Sumiko and how Sakura was wrong. Sakura hadn't done anything except fawn over Sasuke. Sumiko had been strong enough to risk her life and almost died in the process.<p>

"Sakura," the two started.

"Yeah?" Sakura asked.

"You're wrong about Sumiko. She's strong and risked her life. All you did was fawn over Sasuke and stand there, helpless," they said simply.

"How dare you!" Sakura yelled. "You have no right to speak to me like that!"

"Really? As our teammate, we have to make things clear so missions don't go wrong and everyone dies," Kei said. "This also gives you room to improve. You also have a role model to aspire to be: Sumiko. She's strong. This mission gave you everything you need, and yet you simply shove it aside to stare at Sasuke, a boy we can clearly see will never have eyes for you."

Sakura was in shock. "You're just jealous! You're telling me this because you didn't do anything either!"

"That isn't true. We tried to use medical ninjutsu to heal Sumiko, but Sasuke kicked us away in a rage. As our teammate, you were supposed to take that hit for us so we could heal a fellow shinobi," Sorata countered.

"Yamato-sensei! They're just jealous and angry!" Sakura turned to Yamato.

"Sakura, on the next mission, I need you to participate. Because of your foolishness, we're doing D-rank missions until you can get your act together," Yamato said. Sakura felt betrayed. _No way…Sumiko can't possibly be better than me…I'm prettier, smarter, stronger…_ Sakura thought of her Academy days.

* * *

><p>She received her first report card, expecting to see first out of everything. She was shocked to see that she was ranked fourth in terms of tests. She stormed up to Iruka, demanding an explanation.<p>

"Well, Sakura, Sumiko is ranked first, then Sasuke, then Hinata," Iruka said.

"No way did that Sumiko beat me!" Sakura stomped to Sumiko. Black, emotionless eyes turned to her.

"Yes?" Sumiko asked.

"You cheated! That's why you're always first! You cheat off of Sasuke-kun!" Sakura accused.

"Then why did he get one wrong on the test and I got that one right?" Sumiko asked. Sakura gasped and didn't have an answer.

A few weeks later, Sumiko and Sakura sparred.

"Begin!" Iruka said.

Sumiko allowed Sakura to race towards her. Sumiko punched her undefended stomach and Sakura crumpled. Sumiko picked her up by her collar and allowed her to stand. Sakura bit her lip to keep from crying. She ran towards Sumiko again and Sumiko tried to kick her side. Sakura caught her foot and sent Sumiko flying. She grinned, but was shocked to find that it was a log. Sakura looked all around for Sumiko. Her shoulder was set on fire as a shuriken made a thin cut. She covered her hand with it and glared at Sumiko, who was in a tree. Sumiko jumped down and raced towards her, ducking to avoid a punch and swept her foot to make Sakura fall. Sakura fell and Sumiko kicked her other side, sending her into unconsciousness from the pain.

"Winner: Sumiko," Iruka said, somehow feeling not surprised.

A few classes later, Iruka asked them to produce as many clones as they could. Sakura made three more copies, Sasuke four, and Sumiko made seven shadow clones.

"Sumiko, that's the shadow clone jutsu! That's great!" Iruka patted her head. "Everyone, if you need help on this jutsu, just ask Sasuke or Sumiko," Iruka glanced at the class.

When they did genjutsu practice and dispelling, Sakura dispelled hers within five minutes of realizing it was a genjutsu. She was sure Sumiko had gotten a worse score, but she learned after class that Sumiko had dispelled in under a minute, and Sasuke a minute.

"I've taught you all the substitution jutsu and the transformation jutsu," Iruka said one day. "Now I want you use them in a spar."

Outside, Sumiko and Sasuke were chosen to spar. Sakura was sure that Sasuke would beat her, but was surprised and angry that Sumiko had the nerve to beat Sasuke. She watched Sumiko help Sasuke up. Instead of being angry, Sasuke seemed happy.

"That was a good match, Sumiko-chan!" Sasuke grinned. Sumiko nodded and smiled a little.

It continued like this. Sakura getting her report card, always hoping she'd beat Sumiko. But she never did, not even once. She thought she could beat her in taijutsu, but pain told her that she'd been wrong. In genjutsu, she always thought she could dispel faster, but was always beaten. In ninjutsu, she thought her excellent chakra control was better than Sumiko. Only to find that Sumiko had more chakra than the average genin, even as an academy student, and even sharper chakra control. And, the most painful thing, Sasuke always stayed with her, instead of talking to Sakura even once. He was always with her.

Sakura realized how far she was from Sasuke and Sumiko. Even Naruto. She had been outclassed by the dead last in her class. _No way…_

They walked past the village gates and Kotetsu and Izumo were shocked to see Sumiko covered in ice, an unknown ninja, and Sasuke unconscious. Naruto and Sakura looked depressed and Kei and Sorata looked indifferent.

* * *

><p>At the hospital, Haku dispelled the ice and Sumiko was admitted to be treated immediately. The rest of them including Haku went to the Hokage to give their report.<p>

"Hokage-sama, I believe this boy could be a valuable asset to Konoha," Kakashi said. Hiruzen nodded and sent Kakashi to accompany him to Ibiki and Anko and Inoichi. There, he'd be interrogated and his mind searched to see if he was a spy for Iwa, who was still bitter about what happened seven years ago.

Sasuke woke up in his bed.

"Sumiko!" he screamed, only to find Kakashi there.

"She's fine, Sasuke. She's in the hospital. I was told she's in very critical condition, so no one can see her," Kakashi knew he wanted to see her.

"What about that Haku?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"He's being interrogated. If he's not a spy and has no ill will towards this village and its ninja, he'll be admitted into Konoha's ranks," Kakashi said.

"Where is Naruto?" Sasuke asked, ready to kill him.

"His apartment. Why?" Kakashi was nervous.

"I need to talk to him," Sasuke said, jumping out the window.

* * *

><p>"Naruto!" Sasuke slammed his door open.<p>

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Why did you hurt Sumiko?!" Sasuke slammed him against a wall.

"I didn't mean to! She moved to protect that guy!" Naruto yelled.

"Liar! You meant to hurt her!" Sasuke yelled.

"Stop being irrational! Think, Sasuke!" Naruto said. Sasuke let him go and took a seat. He thought about Sumiko and realized Naruto was telling the truth.

"If Sumiko dies in the hospital, I'm holding you personally accountable," Sasuke growled and left. He walked out and saw Hinata walking to Naruto's apartment. Hinata was shocked to see Sasuke in such a rage, but she continued.

"Naruto-kun?" she knocked.

"Hey there, Hinata-chan!" Naruto grinned. "What's up?"  
>"I-I-I m-m-made more m-mango m-mochi," Hinata explained and handed him a box.<p>

"Whoa, this is great! No one has ever given me homemade food for a present before! Except maybe Sumiko, but I stole some of her food and then Sasuke hit me, saying how it was precious food or something. Anyway, come in!" Naruto ushered her in. Hinata was ready to faint but she managed not to.

"This is delicious, Hinata-chan!" Naruto chewed. He had a slight headache from the cold ice cream, but that was just one of the risks of ice cream.

"I'm g-g-glad you th-think so," Hinata smiled. "I c-can m-make s-soup if you w-want…y-your fridge l-l-looks a little e-empty," Hinata said, looking in his fridge.

"Really? You'd do something like that for me?" Naruto was in shock.

"Yeah," Hinata whispered.

"Sure!" Naruto grinned and let her go buy ingredients.

* * *

><p>"Sa..su…ke," Sumiko whispered. But no one was there. She sat up and pain exploded on her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut and heard a doctor walk in.<p>

"Hey there, Sumiko," he greeted.

She nodded, not wanting to speak.

"Are you feeling better? If you are, we can move you to regular in-patient beds and your friends can see you. In fact, there was a boy here earlier who demanded he see you. Scared the daylights out of the nurses, but ANBU managed to restrain him," the doctor chuckled lightly.

"What was his name?" Sumiko wheezed through the pain.

"Hmmm…I don't know his first name, but it was the Uchiha," he said.

"Ah, Sasuke," she smiled.

"Yes, that was it," he snapped his fingers. "So, are you feeling better?"

"Yeah," Sumiko closed her eyes and allowed his to wheel her bed to another room.

She sighed as the doctor left. Not a minute after the door closed, the door slammed open and an angry Uchiha came in.

"Sumiko, are you okay?!" Sasuke held her hands in his.

"Yeah," she fought down a blush. "What happened?"

"Naruto tried to kill Haku after seeing you and me on the ground. I came to and saw that you'd taken the blow for Haku and because of it, I unlocked my sharingan," he said. He closed his eyes and opened them, revealing a single tomoe sharingan.

"Wow…" Sumiko whispered. "Then what happened?"

"Then, ice covered your body and Haku was brought into Konoha as an asset and to dispel your ice, saying how it was 'the ultimate protection' or something. And how since you have it, you're the most powerful ice release shinobi," Sasuke said.

"I see…" Sumiko looked at the ceiling. _Is that what they meant in the scroll?_

"What is 'the ultimate protection'?" Sasuke asked.

"It's ice that will protect someone from harming them at its own will. I don't know why I didn't get it when I was on the streets, but that's the past. Anyway, I don't have to control the ice at my own will. It protects me on its own," Sumiko said. Sasuke was astonished. _Sumiko's really powerful…_

"That's amazing, Sumiko," Sasuke said, looking away. Sumiko's mouth opened slightly and her black eyes widened. _When did I start reacting to Sasuke like this? _

"T-thanks…" Sumiko muttered.

"I'll leave. You should rest," Sasuke walked out quickly. Sumiko didn't want him to leave, but the door was already closed before she could object. Sighing, she leaned on her pillow and closed her eyes.

**A/N Sumiko isn't dead! Sasuke unlocked his sharingan! Haku is in the village! Don't be a silent reader, I offer virtual dango as reward if you review~**


	10. Smoke

Training continued as usual. Kakashi trained the hell out of his three cute genin in preparation for the Chuunin Exams. He'd tried to hide it from the three, but he knew Sumiko would do anything to help her teammates, including telling them about the Chuunin Exams. They probably were going to say yes anyway.

Kakashi got up, seeing that it was almost noon. Taking his sweet time, he got dressed and walked leisurely to where his genin were.

"Hiya," Kakashi eye-smiled.

"You're late!" Naruto screamed.

"Well, you see, an old lady had groceries…" Kakashi laughed.

"Liar!" Naruto huffed.

"What, Kakashi?" Sumiko asked. Kakashi was slightly irritated, seeing that she already knew.

"I have your Chuunin Exam forms," Kakashi handed it to them. "Bye." He disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Sumiko sighed. _I thought he actually came himself to give us something this important? Or could be he worrying and not wanting to see us in person? No, that's stupid. Clones always relay information to the original, so he wouldn't be able to get out of seeing us._

"Sumiko, it's lunchtime," Sasuke said. Sumiko had made bento that day, knowing that Kakashi would be late. So she spent two hours laboring over bento, making it delicious. Earlier, at ten, they left and waited another two hours for their masked sensei.

"Yeah," Sumiko nodded and they began walking to the park.

"Hey, wait!" Naruto yelled after them. Sumiko sensed another chakra and turned. Hinata was there as well.

"What?" Sumiko asked.

"Hinata-chan and I were thinking it could be a picnic," Naruto grinned sheepishly. Sumiko glanced at Sasuke and smirked. He smirked back. Hinata watched their exchange with confusion. _Are they able to communicate like that?_

"Sure, follow us," Sumiko said and her and Sasuke disappeared via shunshin. Naruto groaned and ran after them.

* * *

><p>"It'll take a good twenty minutes for them to find us," Sumiko said, laying out a blanket. She'd brought many things in a basket that she'd sealed into a scroll. Kakashi had taught her the sealing technique for sealing things in a scroll and it was very useful.<p>

"Maybe less because of Hinata's byakugan," Sumiko hummed as she lay out on the blanket.

"Yeah," Sasuke agreed and laid next to her, staring at the clouds.

"Oi! Sumiko! Teme!" Naruto's loud voice was echoing. Sumiko sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Hey, Naruto," she greeted.

"Teme! Why'd you leave us like that?!" Naruto sounded betrayed as he and Hinata sat.

"We thought it would be good training for our sharingan-less teammate," Sasuke shrugged. Naruto growled and swung a fist at Sasuke. Sumiko caught it and shook her head.

"Hinata, I can't fathom how you're into a guy like this," Sumiko grinned. Hinata turned bright red and Naruto blushed.

"What're you talking about?!" Naruto yelled. "Why're you and Sasuke always together anyway? You two even live at the same place!" Naruto grinned. The tables have turned.

"Huh?!" Sumiko used all her willpower not to blush. She covered her mouth and looked away. "It isn't like that…"

Sasuke simply stuffed his mouth with the onigiri Sumiko had made.

"Anyway, I b-brought sandwiches and mango mochi ice cream and t-tea," Hinata opened her basket. Sumiko threw an exploding kunai far out and Hinata and Naruto turned around, shocked. In the confusion, Sumiko grabbed the box of mochi and hid it behind her.

"Must've been some genin messing around," Sasuke said. He glanced at Sumiko and she smiled back. He narrowed his eyes to say _I expect some in return._ She glared and hissed.

"Sumiko-san?" Hinata asked, confused.

"Itadakimasu," Sumiko said and ate some of the karaage she'd made and one of Hinata's sandwiches.

"These are delicious, Hinata-san!" Sumiko grinned with full cheeks.

"I'm g-glad you think so," Hinata smiled. Naruto ate the rest of the sandwiches in record time and began to compliment Hinata and she blushed hard.

"Sumiko," Sasuke said after all the food was gone.

"Sasuke," she replied.

"I shouldn't have to repeat myself," Sasuke said, glaring.

"Neither should I," she smiled and trapped the box in ice.

"Payment. Now," Sasuke frowned.

"For what?" Sumiko was playing dumb.

"Earlier. Now give it up," Sasuke held his hand out. Sumiko activated her sharingan.

"I don't like to repeat myself," she said. It was two tomoe against one.

"Neither do I, Sumiko," Sasuke followed suit. Naruto and Hinata exchanged looks, blushing.

"Uhm, you guys…aren't restoring the Uchiha clan are you? Because that's what it sounds like…" Naruto frowned. "But shouldn't Sasuke be paying Sumiko because he's the heir?"

Sasuke and Sumiko turned bright red. Sumiko couldn't say that she stole the mochi because then Hinata wouldn't trust her.

"Sumiko-san, I already know," Hinata sighed. Her byakugan had been activated the whole time.

"Heh, sorry," she handed the mochi back, still in a block of ice.

"I'll unfreeze that," Sasuke smirked and weaved signs for a weak fire style jutsu. He'd overestimated the amount of ice and the mochi and ice cream were up in flames.

Before Sumiko could throttle Sasuke for killing her mochi, a loud screech was heard.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura and Ino and a bunch of other fangirls were running towards them.

"How dare you, Sumiko!" Sakura and Ino growled. Sumiko simply stood there, letting her ice defense do the work. Sakura and Ino were shocked and angry. They took out kunai but wherever the kunai landed, the ice turned to water.

"Sumiko!" they yelled in anger. One of the fangirls tried to jump Sasuke, but he sidestepped. Naruto and Hinata tried to help, but in a matter of seconds, the two Uchiha were surrounded by a horde of fangirls. Sasuke had eventually taken shelter next to Sumiko. She willed her ice to surround the two of them and she watched with mild disinterest as the fangirls tried their hardest to break into Sumiko's ice barrier, but they failed. Sumiko turned to say something to Sasuke but she found her hands had been tied behind her back and she panicked. She didn't have the time to panick much though. Wide black eyes met with matching black ones and she felt Sasuke's lips against hers once again. She felt his hands pull her closer and he kissed her passionately.

The fangirls were silent for a total of five seconds before they turned into a murderous mob.

"How dare Sumiko kiss Sasuke-kun! My Sasuke-kun!"

"She's got to be taught a lesson!"  
>"What nerve!"<p>

Sasuke broke the kiss and decided to stand up for her, seeing how she was in a daze.

"She's another Uchiha," Sasuke said, his message clear.

"So?! I don't see why you chose her!"

"Because she isn't weak or fusses about her looks! She focuses on training harder than anyone else! So much so that she's stronger than me," Sasuke bit his lip. Sumiko opened her mouth to object, but he looked at her. She kept silent.

"But she's so ugly! And her hair is short and black and not pretty! And her eyes match it and she's pale! Plus, we tried hard to get your attention, but she didn't do anything!" one girl said.

Sasuke sighed. "Have any of you noticed that she looks like me in practically every way you've said?"

The girls were silent. He was right. Well, she didn't wear clothes that had the Uchiha crest on it nor did she have his strange duck-butt hairstyle.

"She's using a henge to hide her looks!"

"I've known her for seven years. At age five, no child knows the henge," Sasuke said and walked away, pulling Sumiko along. Sasuke had beaten down every attempt they made to try to discredit Sumiko. They had to face it: she was stronger, smarter, and more skilled than them. Of course, it's not like they were going to accept it.

"Just you wait, Sumiko! I'll kick your ass in the Chuunin Exams!" Ino yelled.

"Be prepared!" Sakura screeched.

Sumiko turned and glared at them with her sharingan. Now, she could care less if they knew she was an Uchiha. They gasped and screamed questions, but Sumiko disappeared with Sasuke via shunshin.

* * *

><p><strong>The Next Day<strong>

"I accept."

"I accept."

"Me too!" Naruto grinned. _This is the first step to Hokage! _

"Well, you three can head to the academy on the third floor then," Kakashi said. They nodded and headed over to the academy.

…

Sumiko looked at Sasuke. He shook his head in disbelief. Sumiko nudged him and he nudged her back. She sighed.

"This is still the second floor. There's a jutsu distorting the sign," Sumiko sighed, putting her hand on her head.

"Sasuke, Naruto, let's go," Sumiko started to walk away but felt a cold glare on her back. She turned.

"Yes?" Sumiko fingered a kunai in her pocket.

"You're Sumiko, the ice release user and sharingan user, correct?" clean and crisp words came out of a pale Hyuuga's mouth.

"She is, what of it?" Sasuke stepped in front of her.

"I didn't ask you, Uchiha Sasuke," the boy said coldly.

"Hai. What is it?" Sumiko pushed Sasuke aside.

"I look forward to fighting against you," Neji said, his threat veiled under the nature of the Chuunin Exams.

Sumiko nodded and flinched as a dark green color came into her vision.

"Sumiko-san!" Lee yelled. "I have missed your voice so much!"

"Is that so?" Sumiko asked, making her face emotionless.

"Yes!" Lee's eyes brightened.

"Go away," Sasuke pulled her along to the third floor.

"Ne, Sumiko-chan, how come no one wants to know my name?" Naruto pouted.

"If you try your hardest and become Chuunin, then they'll want to know you," Sumiko said.

"Yeah!" Naruto pushed the doors open. "I'm going to beat everyone here!"

Glares from everyone went to Naruto.

Sasuke and Sumiko exchanged looks, exasperated. The other Konoha teams came in.

"Sasuke-kun!" Ino squealed and jumped him. Sasuke's face turned into one of a mix of murder and not understanding. Ino got off him and stood facing Sumiko. She scowled and threw a punch at Sumiko. Sumiko sidestepped and pushed the nape of her neck. Ino fell on her face and turned red from anger and embarrassment.

"Why you!" Ino tried to throw another punch but Sumiko caught it. Ino used her other hand to punch her, but Sumiko simply tripped her.

"Ino-san, please don't fight. The first Exam is about to start," Sumiko chided.

"You're not my mother!" Ino threw herself at her, but Sasuke grabbed her and threw her across the front of the room.

"Sasuke!" Sumiko hissed. Sasuke didn't respond. She could feel the killer intent radiating off of him in waves and stayed silent.

"Alright, everyone shut up and listen!" a cloud of smoke revealed Ibiki. "Here is your seat assignments," he pointed to a chart. "Find your seat and sit quietly," Ibiki yelled and after a few minutes, everyone was seated.

Ibiki explained the rules and the point deduction.

"Begin!" he said.

Sumiko saw through this easily. They had to cheat, but not get caught. She just hoped that Naruto had figured it out. She looked around and saw Hinata was next to him. She saw that Sasuke was right next to her. She grinned.

She actually did answer a few correctly, but wanted to test the skills of the people who were supposed to make sure no one cheated.

She weaved signs and an ice mirror began to come together above her head. She positioned the mirror so she could read the answers from the genin with the cards and glasses. To her surprise all he'd written was 'sharingan'. She narrowed her eyes. He seemed dangerous.

She moved on to some other genin with a blank expression. The kanji for love was on his head and he had wild red hair with turquoise eyes. She moved the ice to read his and quickly copied his. She frowned and saw the word 'ice' on his. _Did he see my ice? _She looked up. There it was, the thing that was setting off her nerves. An eye with a few grains of sand around it. She activated her sharingan and saw that the same chakra in the eye was in him and his gourd. _What is this?_

She turned as the bell rang, signaling only ten minutes left. She flinched. A kunai whizzed past her as she'd used her sharingan to copy the person's in front of her answers. The person behind her was disqualified. Sasuke glanced at her with his single tomoe. She nodded and they continued copying the same genin in sync.

Ibiki gave the special rules to the tenth question. Sumiko and Sasuke nodded. Sumiko looked at Naruto with worry. Sasuke placed a hand over hers. _Don't worry _was what he was saying. Sumiko smiled bitterly. She didn't know why she'd doubted him. His spirit was too strong. He wanted to be Hokage too badly to give up.

It proved to be so. He didn't waver and Ibiki passed Team 7.

A cloud of smoke appeared. In it, Mitarashi Anko appeared. She explained that they are to come tomorrow to a specified place.

"Dismissed!" Anko said. Sasuke and Sumiko walked out.

* * *

><p>"Ne, Sasuke," Sumiko said. Sasuke was slightly surprised. They normally just talked without words.<p>

"Hm?" he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"I saw these two guys' answers. One was 'sharingan' and the other was 'ice. What do you think that means?" Sumiko cast him a worried expression.

"And you don't think you can take them?" Sasuke asked.

"I…It's just…" Sumiko sighed. "I don't know. Something isn't right about this exam."

"Do you want to ask Kakashi-sensei about it?"

"Nah, I'm sure we'll be fine. We've got all these jounin watching over us," Sumiko said, her voice edged with worry.

"Yeah," Sasuke smiled at her. _She's the only one I smile at. _

"Oh, do you think nii-san is—" Sumiko stopped. Huge ice spears came out of another part of the village. She disappeared via shunshin without Sasuke.

"Oi, Sumiko!" Sasuke yelled and ran to where the ice spears were.

* * *

><p>Kakashi looked up. Out his window, ice was visible. His eyes widened. He jumped out the window and raced there. On his way, he saw Sasuke.<p>

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sasuke was clearly panicked.

"Where's Sumiko?" Kakashi asked.

"She ran off," Sasuke said. Kakashi grabbed Sasuke and they went at least three times faster than Sasuke's speed.

* * *

><p>"Haku-nii!" Sumiko screamed. On a pillar was Haku, his stomach covered with blood.<p>

"Sumiko, run!" Haku said harshly as his had enveloped in ice to cover his wound.

"W-why?" Sumiko ran over, putting more ice to slow the bleeding.

"There was a man…who was looking for you…I wouldn't tell him anything, but he set me on fire…then the ice appeared…" Haku panted hard.

"Who was it?!" Sumiko asked, making the ice grow faster.

"I don't know…" Haku admitted. Sumiko felt tears stream down her face as Haku lost consciousness.

"_Nii-san!" _Sumiko screamed. Sasuke ran over and held her.

"Sumiko, what happened?" Sasuke asked softly.

"Haku-nii said that a man looking for me tried to get him to tell him where I was, but Haku-nii wouldn't tell…that idiot," Sumiko stopped crying. She hated crying. Kakashi looked out into the distance with restlessness.

Sumiko got up and revered the ice into the clouds above by turning it back into water. She thought it would snow from the icy water, but it didn't. Snow didn't fall.

**A/N Team 7 passed! Haku was attacked! Who could it be?! Oh yeah, I give all of you permission to review. **


	11. Kindling

**A/N: I think there may be a bit of confusion even if some of you don't review. So, Sumiko and Haku are not sister and brother biologically. They're cousins, but like Hinata and Neji, she calls him nii-san. Of about how Sumiko has the sharingan and who is her father, I'm probably not going to touch up on that unless you guys really want me to. I do have an explanation, but I didn't think it would be necessary to the plot. **

**On to the chapter!**

Dawn came and the sun's rays hit Sumiko's face. Slightly frowning, she got up. She'd always woken up at dawn. Sleepily she got dressed and ran a comb through her short black hair. Washing her face and brushing her teeth, she prepared breakfast and lunch. After letting it cool, she sealed the food into a scroll and slipped it into her pocket. She wore a jacket that Sasuke had gotten for her that had pockets on the inside. She'd been surprised that he'd give her something so personal, a jacket with the Uchiha crest on it. _Well, I am an Uchiha, after all. _

"Sumiko, why're you always up so early?" Sasuke rubbed his eyes as he stood in the doorframe with sleepy eyes and dark blue pajamas that had the Uchiha crest stitched on it.

"Because you and Kakashi eat a lot," Sumiko smirked.

"Do not…" Sasuke yawned.

"Wake up, Sasuke. We've got an important day today," Sumiko said, sitting down and sipping some tea. As she put the cup down, the cup broke and tea spilled on the table. Shocked, she ran and got some napkins.

"That's bad…" Sasuke sighed and took a seat next to her.

"I don't believe in that kind of stuff. You know that," Sumiko said. Still, she was nervous. The last time that happened was when her uncle had tried to kill her and Haku.

"I know," Sasuke said, getting up to get ready for today. Sumiko threw away the broken cup and poured herself another cup. It didn't break.

"Yo, Sumiko," Kakashi greeted her in his usual jounin attire.

"Hey," Sumiko said, taking another sip. Kakashi glanced into the trash can and looked at her for an explanation.

"I don't believe in that kind of thing," Sumiko repeated.

"Maa, you've got Sasuke and Naruto and Anko'll probably be prowling the forest to scare the daylights out of all of you, so you'll be fine," Kakashi said. Truth be told, he said that to also calm his nerves. He cared a lot for Sumiko, a girl who grew up with him for nearly a decade.

"I know," Sumiko said, getting up to gather her kunai and shuriken and extra scrolls.

Sumiko opened the door to see Sasuke running a comb through his hair. He had a huge knot in his hair and Sumiko watched with amusement and pity.

"You want help?" Sumiko tried not to laugh.

"Yeah," Sasuke admitted, handing her the comb. Sasuke watched her in the mirror and looked into her sharingan eyes.

She combed and suddenly, she tugged so hard that his hair fell out, leaving a huge bald patch. She began to laugh and Sasuke as in shock. Sasuke yelled in anger but his surroundings changed after a moment.

His reflection changed to his normal one with his hair normal, without the knot.

"Sumiko!" Sasuke growled.

"It was too good to pass up!" Sumiko laughed. She fell to her knees, laughing. Her face turned red as she laughed. She wiped her eyes and began to sober herself up but was silenced as Sasuke pecked her lips.

"S-Sasuke…" Sumiko turned, hiding her blush.

"That's payback," she could hear his smirk.

"Come on, let's just go!" Sumiko growled and grabbed her shuriken and kunai. Sasuke sipped the miso soup in one gulp and ran out.

"Bye, Kakashi-sensei!" Sumiko yelled as she closed the door. Kakashi waved, clenching his fists. He felt the spike in her heart rate and how it got quiet for a moment and then she'd rushed to get out after she'd gone to her room, and was very unhappy with his theories. None of them were good. If the worst one proved to be true, he'd kill Sasuke. After all, he wasn't the last Uchiha. They'd still have Sumiko. Kakashi grinned.

* * *

><p>"This is the Forest of Death!" Anko announced. She explained the rules and had everyone sign the waiver. After receiving the heaven scroll, Sumiko leaned against a tree to wait until they were called to be released into the forest.<p>

"Sumiko!" a screech called her out. Sumiko looked up to see a pink haired person.

"Sakura-san," Sumiko slightly nodded her head.

"Why did you kiss my Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, furious.

"I didn't; he tied my hands and kissed me," Sumiko replied.

"But why did he kiss _you?!_" Sakura asked as if Sumiko would know.

"Maybe it's because I'm another Uchiha. But, no matter the reason, we'll either have to guess or ask him. I can't read his mind," Sumiko shrugged and walked over to Sasuke and Naruto.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. _What did she want? _Sumiko shook her head. _I don't know._ Team 7 was called and put to wait at a gate. After a minute, they were allowed in.

* * *

><p>Naruto held the scroll in his possession.<p>

"Sumiko, don't activate your sharingan. I'll scan for enemies," Sasuke said as they raced towards another team. Sumiko nodded, understanding the underlying reason he said this: she fought better at long range and her jutsus needed a bit of chakra, so she needed to save her strength for powerful enemies. A bug whizzed past her face and she clapped her hands together to kill it. A swarm came.

"Sasuke!" Sumiko stopped and jumped to the ground.

"It's Shino's bugs!" Sumiko said and readied herself to face Hinata's team.

"Fang over fang!" a harsh voice yelled as the duo pushed Sumiko the ground. A huge cloud of dust erupted, covering the two. Sasuke watched with shock.

"Sumiko-chan!" Naruto yelled. The dust cleared to reveal Sumiko slightly panting and Kiba in a block of ice.

"Oi, Sumiko!" Kiba growled. Sumiko went for Hinata and Sasuke for Shino.

Because Shino wasn't well versed in taijutsu and Sasuke kept burning his bugs to ash, he had to fight with taijutsu, even though he knew, even though he'd never admit it, Sasuke had the upper hand. Shino lost focus for a second to glance at Hinata, who'd been knocked unconscious and in ice but seemingly unharmed. Sasuke reached to punch his stomach, his confidence slightly boosted but suddenly he couldn't move. Sumiko turned and Sasuke heard a body fall. He hoped that it wasn't Sumiko. Ice covered the ground in seconds and screams of pain echoed.

"Sorry, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino," Sumiko frowned. Sasuke felt his movement return and he turned to see Hinata and Shikamaru's team out of it. Sasuke punched Shino and kicked him a few times to make sure he wouldn't be coming after them.

"Naruto, get an earth scroll," Sasuke said. Naruto nodded with a blank expression.

Sumiko noticed but didn't say anything. She glanced at Sasuke with a slightly guilty expression. He sighed and they walked through the forest.

"Why did two teams attack us at once?" Naruto frowned.

"An alliance. We're probably the strongest team from Konoha, so combining all their forces together against us probably would've worked if they planned it knowing every one of our jutus, strengths, and weaknesses. However, they didn't know our every jutsu so it failed," Sumiko said simply.

"Hm," Naruto nodded.

Screams of pure pain and fear echoed. Sumiko concealed her chakra and ran ahead. What she saw was something she wished she never saw. Ninjas being killed without mercy and the look on the killer's face were a mix of excitement and murderous intent.

"Please!" a shinobi screamed as he was silenced into the sand, leaving only blood to be proof for his existence. Sumiko couldn't move as a couple splatters of blood landed on her face. _I'm going to get killed! _

Sasuke grabbed her and jumped into the trees. She was pale.

"What happened?" Sasuke held her shoulders. Sumiko didn't respond.

Sasuke wiped the blood off her and put her on his back. Him and Naruto continued until they reached a stream. They set up camp there; Sasuke knew Sumiko had sealed some blankets in a scroll. Once camp was set up, Sumiko moved for the first time in a bit of time. She froze the stream and allowed Naruto and Sasuke to dig out the fish. She started a fire, but no spark would come. Sasuke smiled and blew out fire. She nibbled on her fish once it was cooked.

The sky turned dark. It was the first of the five nights of bloodshed they'd spend here. She looked at the sky with envy. The sky was free from the lethal lives of shinobi.

A movement caught her eye along with a slight rustling of brush. She flicked a kunai at the bush, barely missing whoever was there.

"Come out," she ordered. They did so.

"S-sumiko…" Kei and Sorata looked bloody and beaten while Sakura was unconscious.

"Kei, Sorata…" Sumiko was surprised.

"Please, help…" Kei fell to his knees as they set Sakura down.

Sumiko knew it would be wise to turn them away, but when she checked the area for any enemies that weren't concealing their chakra again, there didn't seem like it. She glanced at Sasuke. He offered no answer.

"C'mon Sumiko-chan, let's get some water for them," Naruto grinned and ran to the stream carrying Kei in his arms.

Sorata was already asleep. She decided to let him sleep. She glanced at Sakura. She didn't seem to have any major injuries the way Kei and Sorata did.

"Looks like Sorata and Kei did a pretty good job protecting Sakura," Sumiko noted as she and Sasuke watched Naruto splash Kei, whose wounds had opened up again from movement. Sumiko sighed and weaved a few signs. The water covering his major wounds froze.

"T-thank you…Sumiko," Kei looked at her gratefully with a slight blush but Sumiko pinned it up to the fact he looked dehydrated and hungry and tired.

* * *

><p>Sumiko let Sasuke have the first watch. Her and Naruto slept on the ground with Sakura, Kei, and Sorata.<p>

Sasuke sat on a tree branch taking everything from today into account. The Konoha teams, at least two, seemed to ally against team 7. Then, Sumiko saw something so horrifying that she couldn't speak of it. Then Sakura's team comes back looking like they barely came out of an attack alive.

He sighed. Kei had looked at Sumiko with the same eyes as Rock Lee, admiration and something else…For some reason, Sasuke felt his chest get warm and his teeth gritted whenever he saw them act like this towards her. They seemed unfazed by the fact the prodigy Uchiha Sasuke was there to fight them off. _But, the only good thing that comes out of this is the fact that I know Sumiko will stay by my side. That's good enough considering the circumstances._

Sasuke felt someone staring at them. He activated his sharingan but there was no one there. Sasuke narrowed his eyes but didn't give chase. He couldn't.

* * *

><p>Morning came. It was dawn. Sasuke had let Sumiko sleep through the night. He'd woken up Naruto and made him take the other shift as Sasuke slept.<p>

"Sasuke…" Sumiko blinked a few times. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Because you're cute when you sleep," Sasuke said, smirking.

"You watched me when I slept?" Sumiko blushed and looked away. "Creep."

Sasuke laughed a little and helped pack up camp. Sumiko sealed away the blankets in a scroll and put it back in her pocket.

"Sorata, Kei, Sakura, wake up," Sumiko shook them. Sorata screamed and tried to stab her with a kunai.

"Hey there, slow down," Sumiko caught his kunai.

"Oh, Sumiko…sorry," Sorata laughed, embarrassed.

"We don't have time for pleasantries. Get up. We're going our separate ways," Sumiko walked away with Sasuke and Naruto. They jumped into the trees, leaving team 12 alone.

Team 7 continued in silence until they felt a huge wave of killer intent. Sumiko took out a kunai and readied herself. A Suna nin came walking towards them with no fear of going up against two sharingan users.

Sumiko calmed herself. She activated her sharingan and waited for the boy to make a move. A move was what he did. He went straight for Sumiko, but his sand hit ice. Sumiko almost let her guard down. She'd forgotten how the ice protected her.

"How is it…that a lowly girl could have an ice variation of my ultimate defense?" Gaara questioned.

"The ice scroll I'd read told me that ultimate defense users originated from ancient clans," Sumiko narrowed her sharingan eyes.

Gaara studied her carefully. _Her blood is too precious to feed Mother just yet. I'll wait._

He walked away from her without another word. She didn't give chase.

* * *

><p>Team 7 moved on until they were just half a day away from the tower. It was late morningearly afternoon.

"I have to pee!" Naruto announced and ran off.

Sasuke shook his head and leaned against a tree. Sumiko leaned next to him.

"I can see why Hinata likes him," Sumiko said.

"How so?"

"He's got a strong spirit and never gives up. I don't know much, but I'd take a stab in the dark and say that Hinata's timid and stutters because of her family with their cruel main and branch families. The Neji guy probably plays some role as well," Sumiko sighed. "Naruto's an idol to her."

"Yeah," Sasuke nodded. He'd never admit it, but Naruto was a friend.

"I'm back!" Naruto grinned. Sumiko noticed something wrong immediately: his shoes were black instead of being blue. Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"Naruto, who do you like?" Sumiko asked.

"Sumiko! Why would you ask something like that?!" Naruto frowned. "But if you really want to know, it's always been you."

"Sasuke," Sumiko allowed Sasuke to beat the crap out of the impostor.

"I was wrong?!" the Oto-nin growled.

"Yeah," Sumiko said bluntly.

"So, where's our actual teammate? If you don't answer us, Sasuke and I will kill you," Sumiko glared with her sharingan. The Oto-nin didn't take her seriously as she twirled her kunai.

"Like I know," he scoffed.

"You know, your arms seem special. Do you like them?" Sumiko asked, pushing Sasuke aside as she moved him at blurring speeds to put her foot on his back and held his hands behind him.

"Please!" he begged, feeling the pressure and pain.

"Oh? So you do like them? How about if I took them away? Then what would you do?" Sumiko asked.

"Please don't hurt me!" he screamed as she broke one of his arms.

"You have one more chance," Sumiko said.

"A huge snake ate him! He's a goner!" the Oto-nin said. Sumiko turned to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, get close to me," Sumiko said. Sasuke did as he was told, slightly in awe of her power.

"AHHHH!" the Oto-nin screamed as Sumiko threw him across the clearing. He hit his arms on a tree and passed out, probably from the pain. Two more Oto-nin appeared. Sumiko weaved signs for a water jutsu and it covered the two.

"Is that all you got?" Zaku smirked. Sumiko weaved a few more signs and the water on his hands froze and the air tubes in his hands clogged. He didn't notice.

The girl, Kin, had a lot of hair. With that, it retained more water. Sumiko smirked as she froze the water in the girl's hair. From the weight, the girl fell backwards. Sumiko also froze their clothes and walked over to them. She kicked and punched them until they were bloody.

"Oi, Sumiko, what's gotten into you?" Sasuke shook her shoulders.

"I—" Sumiko was cut off as a wave of killer intent came into the clearing.

"Hello, Uchiha, or should I say, Yuki Sumiko," the Kusa nin grinned. "I'm disappointed in my subordinates. They needed to wait for me, but oh well," she shrugged. Sumiko couldn't move. Memories of Kiri came back to her by merely looking into the Kusa nin's eyes. She screamed into unconsciousness. Sasuke tried to move to protect her, but he was too late. It seemed to happen in an instant, but the Kusa nin simply walked over. Sasuke watched with horror. Sumiko's ice didn't appear. _Is the ground too dry? Does she not have enough chakra? _Sasuke's mind filled with questions, but all those questions were silenced into pure rage as the Kusa nin sunk her snake-like fangs into Sumiko's neck. She screamed again and writhed in pain. Feverish eyes opened to look at Sasuke.

"Sa…su…ke…run…" Sumiko croaked as she screamed again, this time louder. The mark turned into black markings. Sasuke still couldn't move.

"Don't worry, Sasuke-kun. I'll watch over you if I want you," the Kusa nin smiled. Sasuke looked into her eyes and what he wanted to forget so badly came back to his mind: the night of the Uchiha Massacre. He simply slumped and his arm reached out on the ground to reach Sumiko's face. He slipped into a hellish unconsciousness with Sumiko's screams following him until the darkness consumed him.

**A/N Anyway, yeah. Questions? Comments? Complaints? Review and I'll give you a Levi or Mikasa! (you're awesome if you get that reference!) See ya!**


	12. Fire

Naruto had encountered the Kusa nin as he was coming back. In a rage, Naruto had heard the nin say something about Sumiko.

"What did you say?!" Naruto growled with red and black slitted eyes.

"Ah, your teammate. She's going to die," the Kusa nin grinned with a mouth of a snake.

"W-what're you talking about? What did you do to Sumiko-chan?!" Naruto tried to choke him but ended up hitting a tree hard. Wheezing, he glared.

"Find out yourself," the Kusa nin disappeared.

Naruto growled but ran off where his friends were. He wasn't prepared to see this.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled out as Sasuke moved a little. He was on the ground next to Sumiko, who was moaning in pain.

"Sumiko-chan!" Naruto shook her, only for her to scream. Naruto cringed and put her on his back and dragged Sasuke. He couldn't go far, but he managed to find a cave.

"Please be okay," Naruto put a wrung out cloth on her head. Her fever was practically burning her. Ice tried to wrap itself around her only to melt and try again. Naruto stayed put in the cave and unsealed some of the food Sumiko had in her scrolls.

Three hours passed until Sasuke stirred.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked uncertainly.

"Dobe?" Sasuke glared. He suddenly shot up. "Sumiko!"

Sasuke looked wistfully at Sumiko. He bit his lip and felt guilt building in his chest.

"She's burning up!" Sasuke exclaimed. Sasuke put the cloth in the water Naruto had gotten earlier and replaced it on her head. This time, the ice managed to make a thin layer in some areas, but her hair remained soaked in water from the ice melting.

"I'll take first watch. You rest," Naruto said. Sasuke attempted to argue, but Naruto glared at him with such intensity that Sasuke somehow complied.

Another five hours passed until Sasuke woke up again. Sumiko's fever hadn't gone down very much.  
>"Hey, are you alright?" a ninja with white hair and glasses ran up. A Konoha hitai-ate shone in the moonlight.<p>

Sasuke grabbed a kunai but the ninja held up his hands.

"I'm a medical ninja," he explained and Sasuke let him look at Sumiko, but gripped his kunai firmly.

"If you hurt her, I'll—" Sasuke glared.

"I understand, Uchiha," Kabuto waved him off. "I'm Kabuto, by the way," Kabuto smiled. He put his hands on each other and a green light emitted from his hands. Kabuto smirked. _Orochimaru-sama has made his move. Now I'm going to have to do my best here._

After twenty minutes, Kabuto said that she might wake up later tomorrow. He wiped sweat from his brow.

"I've brought her fever down so just watch it if it comes back up," Kabuto sighed.

"Thanks Kabuto!" Naruto grinned.

"She was probably fine even if you didn't do that," Sasuke huffed.

"Stop being so stubborn, teme!" Naruto growled. "Kabuto helped us and he didn't ask for anything in return!"

"Actually, I'm kinda hungry…you two wouldn't have any food, would you?" Kabuto smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah!" Naruto handed him maki zushi (**A/N not a typo**) Sumiko had sealed into a scroll.

"He can't have that!" Sasuke snatched it away.

"Why not?" Naruto put his hands on his waist.

"Well, he can have this," Sasuke grudgingly handed him a tea in a bottle they sold in the village and some rice.

"That's it?" Naruto frowned.

Sasuke was cut off as Sumiko stirred. Waves of killer intent and black markings covered her face. She looked at the three boys and noted the slight surprise and joy in the white haired boy.

"So you're finally awake. We brought your friends," Dosu scowled at her. "You're going to pay for what you did to me!" Team Kurenai, Asuma, and Yamato were a bloody mess as they were thrown down from the tree to the ground. Sumiko had him pinned against a tree with kunai going through him in an instant.

He screamed. His hands were stabbed multiple times and she'd put more ice to block his hand holes.

"I take it you Oto nin like your arms and hands," Sumiko smirked.

"Let me go you bitch!" he screamed and spat in her face. The black markings covered the rest of her face and she squinted slightly.

"I'll take that as a yes," she said as she broke his arms in one swift and terrible sound. His screams echoed through the forest.

"How dare you do that to Dosu!" Kin screamed and threw senbon at her.

Sumiko threw his body to the ground and let the senbon come. Ice protected her.

"Is that all you have?" Sumiko asked. She didn't even activate her sharingan. She weaved signs for an small ice dragon, and it came into existence with eyes as cold as the ice it was made of. It exuded and air of bloodlust and reduced the black haired Oto kunoichi to a pool of blood.

"Is that everyone who wants to face me here? Come out," Sumiko said coldly as Sasuke sensed more ninjas in the trees. Neji stepped out.

"Well if it isn't the Hyuuga," Sumiko grinned mirthlessly. Neji flinched. He felt the killer intent and wanted to hide.

"Sumiko!" Sasuke ran up to her and hugged her. "Please… stop. It hurts to see you act like this!" Tears threatened to run down his face. Sumiko was at a loss for words. She turned away and let the curse markings disappear. She grabbed his and Naruto's hands and shunshined to the tower.

* * *

><p>They laid out the scrolls and Iruka appeared.<p>

"Congratulations!" Iruka smiled at his former students. Sumiko had a blank expression, mirroring Sasuke's. Naruto grinned.

Sumiko zoned out as Iruka spoke. She couldn't help her thoughts from wandering to the Kusa woman. The last thing she could remember was the Kusa nin sinking her teeth…no, more like fangs, into her neck. Then pain and darkness.

"Sumiko?" Sasuke nudged her.

"Hm?" she blinked.

"Listen," Sasuke chided as Gekkou Hayate was speaking.

Sumiko nodded but didn't care. She found herself staring at the jounin behind the Hokage. One of them was staring back and she flinched and held her neck with a hand. _Those eyes…_ He smirked, as if enjoying her pain. She glared back. Sasuke pulled her up the stairs and to her relief; she wasn't first up for the preliminaries. She leaned on the railing and watched Sasuke's match with mild interest. It was obvious to her from the beginning that he'd win, but Naruto didn't think so.

"Did anything happen in the Forest of Death?" Kakashi asked her, with eyes that said he knew something was wrong.

"Not really, unless you count death to be interesting," Sumiko said, not taking her eyes off of Sasuke's match. He won.

"Really?" Kakashi asked. "Did someone stab your shoulder?"

"No," she didn't even have to lie this time.

_Next Match: Sumiko vs Sakuragi Sorata._

Sumiko looked up. She glanced at Sorata, who was surprised. She sighed and jumped down.

"Begin," Hayate said and jumped away.

Sumiko activated her sharingan and stared, waiting. He charged at her with a kunai. Sumiko simply stood and let the ice protect her.

"Is that it?" Sumiko asked.

"No!" Sorata threw kunai with explosive tags and shuriken.

In the smoke, Sorata weaved signs. _Please work!_

"Lightning Release: Lightning Storm!" Sorata yelled. Lightning enveloped him and raced towards Sumiko.

Sumiko frowned and weaved signs for a wind style jutsu. Despite the weakness of the jutsu, Sumiko was more skilled than him and in her hands; it made the jutsu more powerful than his chakra-heavy lightning technique.

The lightning was dispersed to Sorata's horror. He threw a smoke bomb and multiple kunai with exploding tags. Sumiko sighed as the explosions rumbled around her. She blinked as her vision was beginning to blur. She bit her lip. _I'm going to have to end this now._

Sumiko jumped out of the smoke and charged at Sorata. His eyes widened as Sumiko engaged into a taijutsu that he had to focus hard to barely keep up. He noticed the pain in her face and was confused. Suddenly, she disappeared and kicked him up the air. She kicked him into the ground with a good portion of her chakra.

Sorata's body exploded in pain. He couldn't move and his body slipped into unconsciousness even though he didn't want to.

Sumiko collapsed on her side. She felt the pain of her curse mark and slowly rose to her knees and focused on staying conscious.

"Winner: Sumiko," Hayate said.

Sasuke appeared next to her. "Are you okay?" She was about to nod, but felt herself falling backwards. Kakashi appeared behind her.

"Kakashi…sensei," she sighed.

"We're going to seal your cursed seal," Kakashi said.

"Can't it wait until we watch the rest of the matches?" Sumiko panted.

"No," Kakashi said. "I'm not going to listen to your selfish requests now," Kakashi picked her up and disappeared.

"Sasuke-san!" Lee walked over to Sasuke, who was next to Naruto.

"Hn," Sasuke didn't look at him.

"What did you say to Sumiko-san?" Lee had his usual frown on, but it was donned with a blush.

"Nothing," Sasuke glared with his single tomoe.

"Did she say anything about me?" Lee asked, unashamed.

Sasuke didn't even reply. His intent to strangle him until his stupid bowl-haircut head popped off.

"Did she?" Lee asked again.

"Nothing about any weak green children," Sasuke spat. "If you touch her, I'll kill you."

"I didn't ask about any children," Lee was confused.

Sasuke clenched his fists and tried his best to not kill him.

* * *

><p>"I'm ready," Kakashi said as he completed the seal formula.<p>

"Yeah," Sumiko said. She wanted to get this over with; she wanted to watch the rest of the matches and put her shirt back on; Kakashi had needed her to take off her shirt for the seal.

Kakashi weaved signs and slapped his hand down on the seal. She screamed in pain as the seal was being completed. Once it was over, Sumiko collapsed.

"So you can use sealing techniques now," a voice said.

Kakashi turned. "Orochimaru."

"Sorry, I don't have business with you, Kakashi-kun. I do have business with the girl behind you though," Orochimaru smirked.

"Why're you after Sumiko?"

"You're lucky, since you got what you wanted already," Orochimaru said. "You didn't have that a long time ago. That sharingan. I want it, too. The Uchiha's power, that is."

"What's your purpose?"

"The new Otogakure is my creation. You understand if I say just that, right?"

"How stupid."

"But to achieve my ambition, I need more arms and legs to accomplish it."

"So Sumiko is one of those pieces?"

"No, Sumiko-chan is my supreme piece. And the ones taking the exam right now are merely sacrifices," Orochimaru grinned and started walking towards Sumiko.

"Don't get any closer to Sumiko!" Kakashi yelled and lightning eveloped his hand. "Even if you're one of the Sannin, I'll sacrifice my life to kill you!" Kakashi yelled. Orochimaru began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Kakashi narrowed his eye.

"What you say and do don't agree. There's no point in using that seal. You know that, don't you? She has a heart that seeks power, or will, anyway, no matter how evil it is. I'd go as far to say that she possesses that kind of disposition," Orochimari countered.

"So you took advantage of her heart. But Sumiko would never…"

"Eventually, she'll seek me out. For my power, you know," Orochimaru said. "And, you said you'd kill me, right? Try. That is, if you can," Orochimaru walked away and disappeared.

Kakashi shook. _Sacrifice my life? Am I mad? _He sighed and looked at Sumiko.

"I'll never let him hurt you, Sumiko," Kakashi said, looking at his student.

* * *

><p>"Yo," Kakashi greeted to his remaining two genin at the arena.<p>

"Don't 'yo' me Kakashi-sensei! Where's Sumiko?" Sasuke growled.

"At the hospital, asleep," Kakashi said. _With ANBU watching him._

"I want to go," Sasuke said.

"No, watch the rest of the matches," Kakashi said.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sasuke argued. Kakashi didn't respond. _Honestly, why are my two Uchiha students so selfish?_

Kakashi watched the rest of the matches with mild interest.

* * *

><p>"Sumiko…Sumiko…" a voice called. Sumiko opened her eyes slowly. White filled her vision.<p>

"Haku-nii…" Sumiko said sluggishly. "Why're you here?"

"Because I care about you. Are you still in pain? How is your neck?" Haku's kind eyes shone with concern.

"I'm fine," Sumiko sighed. "I don't sleep well with others in the room. You must be tired. You can go," she said, trying to get Haku out. Haku was slightly hurt, but he understood she must have had some reason to kick him out.

"Yeah. I know you like taiyaki, so I'll get you some later," Haku smiled and disappeared.

Sumiko stared at the ceiling. _That Orochimaru guy, he's strong. I don't care how dirty the power is, I have people I need to protect and people I have to kill. But the one thing I don't get is why he marked me. Is he with that weird Konoha nin and the Suna nin when they wrote 'ice' and 'sharingan'? _

Sumiko clenched her fists. _This is my chance to protect Sasuke and kill them. _

Two hours later, two chakra signatures she recognized came in.

"What do you want?" Sumiko asked while laying on her side on the bed, facing away from them.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah," Sumiko answered.

"Does your seal still hurt?" Kakashi asked.

"No," Sumiko played with her short hair.

"Then why're you acting like you don't want to see us?!" Sasuke challenged.

Sumiko turned her head to look at him. Black eyes met with black ones.

"Is Haku here yet? He was supposed to get my taiyaki," Sumiko complained.

"Haku? From what the ANBU told me, he was never allowed permission in. He'd need my permission, seeing how you're my subordinate," Kakashi said, looking up from his perverted book.

"What?" Sumiko asked, not letting her fear enter her voice.

"Yeah. Sasuke and I can go out and get you taiyaki, if that's what you want," Kakashi said.

"You too? What's the deal with you being nice?" Sumiko sighed.

"I'm your sensei and you're in the hospital. Can't you not be so critical of your sensei?" Kakashi feigned hurt.

"Do as you please. Kakashi, you can go. I need to talk with Sasuke," Sumiko said.

Kakashi nodded and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke sat in a chair.

"I want to tell you to protect this village on your word. No matter what," Sumiko said.

"Huh? Of course I would! What's gotten into you to say that?" Sasuke was confused.

"Nothing. Swear to me on your life that you'll protect this village until you die. No matter what, no matter the cost, no matter what it takes, and no matter whom you have to kill in the process," Sumiko looked at him with her sharingan. Sasuke was shocked.

"Yeah…you have my word," Sasuke nodded.

"Hold out your arm," Sumiko said. Sasuke held out his left arm. Sumiko weaved signs and slammed her hand on his arm. He sharply inhaled and saw that his arm now had a tattoo on it, in the shape of a snowflake.

"Why'd you do that?" Sasuke asked, walking to a sink in the room and running cold water over it.

"So you never forget your promise," Sumiko said.

"I wouldn't forget. I'm Uchiha Sasuke after all. Plus, I'd never forget anything important when it came to you," Sasuke smiled. Sumiko gestured to make him come over again. He frowned, suspicious. She placed a hand over his tattoo and covered it in ice. He sighed in relief. The cold made it much easier to deal with.

"Thanks, Sumiko," Sasuke leaned closer to her and kissed her passionately. She kissed back and pulled him closer with her other hand.

**A/N I hope you enjoyed! I rewrote it a couple of times and I'm a bit more satisfied with this! See ya next chapter!**


	13. Scorching Flames

Sumiko had competed in the final exam and received the title of Chuunin, along with Sasuke. Sumiko had heard the Sandaime Hokage had died. She went to the funeral. She went home. Then, the Akatsuki came looking for Naruto. She knew why.

"I need to do something," Sumiko said. With that, her and Sasuke went after Jiraiya and Naruto to warn them.

"Why is my brother after dobe?!" Sasuke growled.

"You've heard that the Kyuubi was sealed into a child on the night of October 10, yes? Tell me, when is Naruto's birthday?" Sumiko said.

"No way…" Sasuke muttered.

"Yeah," Sumiko said, running to the small town Jiraiya was at.

"How long did you know?" Sasuke asked.

"For about six years now," Sumiko said.

After twenty mintues, they arrived.

"Sasuke, I'm going to set up a barrier. You look in the town for them," Sumiko said. Sasuke nodded.

Sumiko set to work to put up a weak barrier, one that should be enough to hold off someone with genin level chakra for a bit of time.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," Sumiko whispered and ran off to the next village, knowing where Naruto and Jiraiya were all along.

Ten minutes later, she found herself facing off against Itachi.

"I've survived just like Sasuke…I've survived everything to kill you!" Sumiko coughed and a bit of blood came out of her mouth. She stood shakily and ran towards him. He showed no mercy, kicking her against the wall and walking over.

"Sumiko-chan!" Naruto yelled. Itachi kicked her and punched her in the stomach.

"You're weak, just like my brother. Do you know why? It's because you lack…hatred," Itachi said. She glared and tried to speak, but more blood dripped down the sides of her mouth. She looked into the eyes of perhaps the most dangerous nuke-nin and was under his genjutsu.

_For the next 24 hours, you are trapped in my genjutsu world, the Tsukuyomi. _

In the real world, Sumiko screamed as the night of her clan's death replayed over and over.

"Sumiko!" Sasuke ran in, looking beaten up.

Itachi glanced at his brother and walked over. Sasuke growled and charged with his chidori. Itachi kicked him against the wall and punched him. Sasuke collapsed to the floor and tried to get up shakily. Itachi kicked and punched him harder until all he could do was watch Sumiko scream in a painful haze.

It was over after Itachi and Kisame retreated.

"Sumiko…" Sasuke reached out. She didn't respond.

"Sumiko-chan…" Naruto knelt before her.

"Don't touch her. Her ribs and arms are broken," Jiraiya said.

"Yeah…"

"Is she going to be okay?" Sasuke croaked out with the last of his strength.

"She's suffered heavy psychological damage," Jiraiya said.

"What the hell, Ero-sennin…why the hell did that bastard do that to Sumiko-chan?" Naruto shook with anger.

In the hospital, Sumiko lay in bed, not caring about what went about her at all. Sasuke had come by and she hugged him back, but her goals were clear in her mind.

After a few weeks, she was cleared to go home.

"Do you want taiyaki?" Sasuke smiled. Sumiko's eyes moved to look at him. She nodded.

Fresh hot taiyaki was in her hands and she nibbled.

"I've got somewhere I have to go," Sumiko said after finishing her fish-shaped snack.

"I'll see you at home then?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah," Sumiko said and jumped onto buildings away from the village until she was on a tree looking at the village.

"It looks so peaceful," Sumiko smiled bitterly. She sensed other people's chakra signatures.

"Who are you?" Sumiko stood.

"The Four Sounds," one of them answered. Sumiko frowned as they introduced themselves.

After fighting them, they turned out to be substitution jutsus. She turned and glared at them.

"What do you want?" Sumiko asked levelly.

"Come with us. That way, Orochimaru-sama will give you power. It's pointless if we force you to come. You must decide. Are you coming?" Tayuya asked. Sumiko glanced at the village.

"In exchange for gaining power from the cursed seal, Orochimaru-sama will have control over you. We have no freedom. In order to gain something, you must give something up. What's your purpose? Staying in this village and rotting? And forget everything about Uchiha Itachi and Kirigakure? Don't forget what your purpose is. This village is nothing but a shackle. Just break these useless bonds. That way, you'll gain even greater power. Don't forget your purpose!" one of them said and they disappeared into the night.

A leaf fell into Sumiko's hands and she crunched it in her hand. Her sharingan gained another tomoe.

* * *

><p>In her room, Sumiko was relieved that Sasuke wasn't here. She gathered her things and set off to leave the village. She was walking on the path out the village when she was stopped.<p>

"What are you doing wandering around this late at night?" Sumiko asked Sasuke.

"Because in order to get outside the village, you have to take this path," Sasuke said.

"Go home and sleep," Sumiko said.

"Why?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"Because you have to," Sumiko said.

"You know…all those missions we did together…they were fun," Sasuke said, taking her by the shoulders. "I don't know much about your past, but you shouldn't leave the village to gain power. Gaining power here is good enough."

"Just as I thought…I'm different from you all. Not just because I'm an outsider. I walk a different path than you. I've tried to think it was my path to do all the things we've done up till now. The four of us did those things in the past, but I've decided my path. That's why I've survived in life. I can't become like you or Naruto," Sumiko said.

"Are you going to choose to be all alone again?!" Sasuke asked, getting a sinking feeling in his stomach. "With you, I've gained a family and then a friend, and then someone more!"

"From here on out, a new path will open up," Sumiko replied.

"You've turned into someone I love! If you're gone…I'll feel the pain of being alone! If you stay with me, I'll make sure you wouldn't regret it. Every day will be interesting! We'll be happy together! I'd do anything for you! So…please stay here!" Sasuke felt tears roll down his cheeks.

"How selfish…" Sumiko sighed.

"W-what?" Sasuke asked, stunned.

"You want me to stay so you won't feel the pain of being alone? You've always had someone there for you even when things were bad. How about when there's no one?" Sumiko shook him off her.

"Sumiko…I…" Sasuke gritted his teeth. "If you can't stay, take me with you!"

"No," Sumiko said. She started walking away. She opened her eyes to show a sharingan with a different pattern.

"Don't leave! If you leave, I'll scream for someone to come and stop you!" Sasuke said. His sharingan had also gained another tomoe, now having two.

"Sasuke…" Sumiko reappeared behind him. "Thank you, for everything," Sumiko said. With that, she knocked him unconscious. _Sumiko…_

Sumiko placed him on a bench and walked away.

* * *

><p>"We've been waiting, Sumiko-sama."<p>

"What're you planning now?" Sumiko asked.

"When you decided to leave the village, you became our leader. Please forgive our rudeness earlier," the Four Sounds said.

"I don't care about that. Let's go," Sumiko said.

With the cloak of the night, the five of them began their travel back to Orochimaru.

* * *

><p>"Sumiko!" Sasuke yelled. He refused to cry. "I have something to report," Sasuke said to Izumo and Kotetsu.<p>

"Hm?"

"There has been a defection from the ranks of Konoha shinobi. This shinobi is Uchiha Sumiko," Sasuke said. "The ice user."

"Come with us to the Hokage," they said. Sasuke stood and followed.

He looked miserable.

"Oi, was this girl important to you or something?" Izumo teased.

"Yeah," Sasuke said. "I loved her."

"Did she like you back?" Kotetsu asked, feeling badly for the young genin.

"Yeah, but that didn't change her mind," Sasuke looked at the mark on his arm.

* * *

><p>"Yes," Sasuke said.<p>

"Wake up Nara Shikamaru. Tell him to gather a group of skilled ninja to go after her," Tsunade said. "And, what's on your arm?"

"A promise between us that I'd protect the village no matter what happened," Sasuke said bitterly. "I'm going now."

Sasuke disappeared and went to the Nara compound.

"Seriously?" Shikamaru yawned as he and Sasuke walked to get Chouji.

"Yeah," Sasuke said. He didn't want to have to keep repeating it.

After ten minutes, everyone was assembled. Shikamaru briefed them on the mission to bring back Sumiko and they nodded grimly.

"Why aren't I going?" Sasuke asked.

"Because you failed to prevent her from leaving," Shikamaru said bluntly.

"Let's go," Shikamaru said.

* * *

><p>Sumiko had taken Naruto down. It was hard, even though he'd used the power of the Kyuubi. He lay on the ground in the rain.<p>

"Sumiko!" two voices called out.

Haku and Sasuke arrived.

"We're going to stop you here!" Sasuke said.

Sumiko stepped on the water. She knew all of Haku's attacks and how to defeat them. After quickly taking down her cousin, she turned to the Uchiha. She knew he wasn't fast enough to get past her ice, she waited from him to wear himself out, knowing he'd used perhaps a fourth of his chakra to get to her. With three fourths of his chakra left and dropping, she waited from him to wear himself out.

Suddenly, he'd gotten faster. She focused and activated the seal on his arm. It caused intense pain, among other things.

Sumiko picked him up and kissed him. She took a kunai and stabbed him in the stomach.

"S-sumiko…I thought you loved me…" Sasuke said, his eyes showing betrayal and hurt and tears rolled on his face.

"I did," Sumiko said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a still warm taiyaki.

"I bought that for you," Sasuke smiled through the pain.

"Sasuke, there's nothing between us anymore," Sumiko said. "I can't love you anymore," she said. Suddenly, she collapsed to her knees; her legs began to scream in pain. Her face was an inch from Sasuke's. She felt tears roll down her cheeks and began to walk to Orochimaru. _I'm sorry, Sasuke. _


	14. Amaterasu

Sumiko lay in her room in the dark. In the two and a half years she'd spent with Orochimaru, she'd signed two summoning contracts, mastered her wind nature and her other chakra nature, fire. This wasn't a surprise seeing how she was an Uchiha, whose chakra nature is fire.

"Orochimaru, I have something I have to do," Sumiko said.

"Is that so?"

"I'm going to Konoha. The secrets to the sharingan lay there," Sumiko said.

"Then take Kabuto with you," Orochimaru grinned. Sumiko nodded and set off with Kabuto.

* * *

><p>"Does this bring back memories?" Kabuto asked as they overlooked the village. Sumiko didn't respond. They began to walk through the village and people stayed away from them. Sumiko gave off an aura of death.<p>

"Do I know you?" Sakura came up to her. Sumiko glared. She continued walking.

"I do, don't I!?" Sakura grabbed her shoulder. Sumiko slapped her hand away, suppressing the ice shield.

"S-sumiko?!" Sakura whispered. Sumiko activated her mangekyo sharingan and put Sakura in a strong genjutsu.

Sumiko kept walking, hoping she wouldn't run into anyone else. She was dead wrong. In front of the Uchiha compound stood Kakashi, Lee, Shikamaru, Neji, Kiba, Kei, and Sorata.

Sumiko almost laughed. She threw her cloak off, revealing her to look stunning; despite the fact she wanted to kill them for getting in her way.

"Why have you come back to the village?" Kakashi asked, pulling up his hitai-ate to reveal his sharingan.

"None of your business!" Sumiko said and froze everything in a ten foot diameter. Then, she used the water in their blood to temporarily stop them.

"You're missing one important person, don't you think?" Kabuto asked as they descended into the secret Uchiha meeting place.

"I don't care," Sumiko said. In the dark, her eyes glowed. After reading what she had to read, she raided the library for anything on the Uchiha.

"Show me," Sumiko gazed into the librarians' eyes to put her under a genjutsu.

"Hai…" the librarian gave her all the books on the Uchiha and their secret techniques, even the ones that were supposed to be secret books never given and under many seals to keep them away from curious Uchiha children. Sumiko sealed them all into a scroll and left the library. She concealed her chakra as well as she could as Sasuke walked by. He turned and stared.

Sumiko glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. She walked to the taiyaki stand and nibbled on it. He walked up to her.

"Do I know you?" Sasuke asked, his voice slightly hopeful. "Because you're just as pretty as this girl I knew, maybe you know her; she's really famous. The nuke-nin with two kekkei genkai, ice and the sharingan," Sasuke smiled. Sumiko stroked his face.

"I'm sorry," Sumiko said.

"Then why do you look exactly like her?" Sasuke asked, his smile disappearing. "Is this some sick trick, Sumiko?"

"I don't know who you're talking about," Sumiko replied levelly. "I mean, I've heard of her, but I don't know her. Calm down, mister," Sumiko sighed.

"Yakushi, let's go," Sumiko said.

"Wait!" Sasuke yelled out as they were walking away. "Where can I find you next time?"

"Orochimaru's lair," Sumiko grinned and reverse summoned herself back to Orochimaru's hideout.

"It was you!" Sasuke yelled as he looked into her eyes, charcoal ones. Sasuke gritted his teeth and ran to the Hokage to tell her what had happened.

"Well, go release Kakashi and the rest of them in front of the Uchiha compound. You're our best fire release ninja," Tsunade said.

"Hai," Sasuke said and disappearing to the Uchiha compound.

"Did you see her too?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah," Sasuke said.

"Sumiko-san is still just as beautiful!" Lee said as Sasuke released him from the ice.

"Sasuke, Sumiko is even more dangerous. She froze our blood," Kakashi said.

"And?" Sasuke asked.

"And you should be more careful next time you walk about," Kakashi said.

Sasuke nodded and walked away to Kakashi's apartment. The necklace she'd had since she was a small child still lay on her dresser in their shared room. Sasuke was about to finish moving out of Kakashi's apartment.

"That's…" Kakashi's eye widened.

Sasuke nodded, his heart growing heavy.

* * *

><p>Half a year passed. The Akatsuki had taken Gaara and on the retrieval team were Sakura, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto. When Kakashi's team was sent on a mission to go to Orochimaru's hideout, Yamato stood as the stand-in for Kakashi. Sumiko knew they were coming even before Sasuke opened the door.<p>

Still, her door opened. Sasuke stood in the doorway.

"Sumiko?" Sasuke asked. Sumiko exploded her room with simply chakra. She stood staring down at her former comrades.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Sumiko!" Sasuke repeated, in shock. Sumiko stared at them.

"If Sasuke and Naruto are here, then where is Kakashi?"

"I'm his substitute. We'll be taking you back to Konoha now," Yamato said.

"Are you sure you want those as your last words?" Sumiko asked, monotone.

Yamato stiffened.

"Please come back to the village with us!" Sasuke pleaded. "Don't you still have bonds with us?"

"I did. That's why I severed them," Sumiko said.

"If you really severed our bond, why didn't you kill me back then? You had so many chances!" Sasuke yelled.

"It's not that I couldn't break our bond, it's just that I spared you on a whim," Sumiko said.

"Wasn't it your dream to become Hokage?" Sumiko reappeared in front of Naruto and was drawing her sword. Naruto stiffened. _She's so fast!_

"If you had the time to be chasing after me, you should've spent that time training or something," Sumiko said. "Right, Naruto? And so this time around, you'll lose your life because of my passing whim."

"Sumiko, stop!" Sasuke said, activating his now three tomoe sharingan.

"I didn't ask you to talk," Sumiko glanced at him with her matching three tomoe sharingan. Sasuke weaved signs for the chidori. Sumiko weaved signs for a water jutsu and covered them as Sasuke's jutsu hit. The only one not electrocuted was Sumiko.

Sakura clenched her fists and channeled chakra into them. She raced towards Sumiko who simply stood there.

Yamato stepped in to defend Sakura, but Sumiko stabbed him and lit her sword on fire.

"That manner of defense was the wrong one," Sumiko glared down at him. "You see, my sword is special because you can't guard."

Naruto slowly rose to his knees. Red eyes with black slits glared at Sumiko. Sumiko looked at him with her hate-filled sharingan and entered his mindscape.

"You're…" Kyuubi started. Sumiko had her hand out, almost touching the Kyuubi.

"I see, you're an Uchiha. My, have you grown," the Kyuubi said.

"Now I can see it, your unusual power. Of course, I've known for ten long years," Sumiko smirked.

"To think you'd be able to see me within Naruto, that dreadful sharingan. So that's the power of that cursed clan?"

"It seems like you've seen the sharingan before, Kyuubi," Sumiko glared.

"That vision, and chakra more ominous than mine, it reminds me of Uchiha Madara from long ago," Kyuubi said and Sumiko grabbed his nose and dispersed his chakra.

"As if I'd know who that is," Sumiko said.

"I never thought that you'd go as far as suppressing my chakra," Kyuubi said. "This might be the end, but let me tell you one thing: don't kill Naruto. You'll regret it."

Back in the real world, Sasuke struggled to stand. Sumiko glanced at Sasuke and played with all the water in his blood. He screamed in pain.

"How're you able to do that without looking in his eyes or touching his chakra?" Sakura asked.

"That mark," Sumiko replied.

"You mean our promise?!" Sasuke growled. "I haven't forgotten!"

"I didn't want to know if you've forgotten, Uchiha. Oh, and Yamato, I have one question," Sumiko clenched her fists.

"Why wasn't my cousin put on this team as my replacement?"

Silence echoed in the group. Sumiko released her control over his body.

"Haku…" Sasuke bit his lip. "Died."

Sumiko stiffened and walked away. "That weakling."

"Oi, you're coming back to Konoha with us!" Naruto and Sasuke yelled. Sumiko gritted her teeth and unleashed a power she'd only read about, Amaterasu. Her snowflake-shaped mangekyo sharingan flared with anger.  
>"Who killed him?" Sumiko screamed.<p>

"We don't know," Sasuke admitted. Death-bringing eyes landed on Sasuke.

"He was killed on a mission," Naruto said. Sumiko appeared next to him and began to try to kill him. She stabbed him in the stomach with her sword. Naruto tried to fight back but Sumiko had the upper hand.

"Tsukuyomi," Sumiko whispered.

"Sumiko, no! That jutsu…" Sasuke tried to stop her but ice spears formed and tried to stab him, but his sharingan gave him a split-second warning. The chidori screamed in his hand as he raced to Sumiko. Naruto screamed and passed out.

"What did you do to Naruto?!" Sasuke tried to hit her with the chidori but she blocked with her sword.

Sumiko glared and disappeared in a bit of snow.

"She's gone," Sasuke panted. "Dammit!"

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura put a hand on his shoulder.

"Heh, did you see her sharingan? That was no ordinary sharingan," Sasuke smirked in bitter defeat.

"Let's go," Yamato said, picking up Naruto. Sasuke dropped to his knees.

"The difference between our skill levels hasn't changed at all, even though I know I've trained so hard," Sasuke felt tears roll down his face. "I'm so weak…"

"Crying won't bring her home. I'm going to help bring her back with all my power," Naruto and Sakura said, pulling him up. Sasuke glared at them and walked home with them.

* * *

><p>"Mission: Failure," Tsunade said as she wrote this down. "Tell me why our Uchiha is so depressed."<p>

"Sumiko had shown extreme strength and prowess with her sharingan, ice release, and another chakra nature, fire. She also released black flames, entered Naruto's mindscape, and put him under a genjutsu Sasuke says is called the 'tsukuyomi'. After hearing that Haku had died, she tried to kill Naruto. I do not believe that we had any chance from the start," Yamato said.

"I see. You all are dismissed except Sasuke," Tsunade laced her fingers.

"Hai," Yamato and Sakura said and left.

"What?" Sasuke asked, avoiding eye contact.

"What happened, to you specifically?"

"I failed again and I am reminded that I'm weaker than her. But…I can't help but still love her," Sasuke bit his lip.

"I suggest you train with Kakashi once he gets out of the hospital," Tsunade said. "Or, do you want to go on a mission right now to clear your mind?"

"Are you sure?" Sasuke asked.

"Look, even as one of our most skilled jounin, you need to clear your mind," Tsunade said.

"Where is this mission?"

"In Kirigakure. Deliver this scroll to the Mizukage. I've already alerted them of your coming arrival," Tsunade handed him a scroll.

"Hai," Sasuke said and left.

* * *

><p>After a few days, Sasuke was about half a day away from Kirigakure, in an area where it snowed. He stopped at a small town and bought a taiyaki. Eating it, he couldn't help but be reminded on Sumiko. He walked to a bar and put his head down on the counter.<p>

"What's wrong, buddy?" the owner asked.

"The girl I love is a nuke-nin," Sasuke said.

"Who?"

"Uchiha Sumiko," Sasuke said.

"That means you're Uchiha Sasuke, right?" the owner narrowed his eyes.

"Is that her?" the owner asked, pulling out a bingo book. Sasuke nodded.

"Sumiko, huh? I can see why she was named that. Still, I think she's over there," he pointed to the taiyaki stand. Sasuke stood and ran over.

"Sumiko!"

Sumiko turned. She activated the mark on his arm and pain came. Sasuke looked at her through the pain.

"Why are you here?" Sumiko asked, with her foot on his chest.

"You look so…pretty in that kimono…" Sasuke said. "And you have the Uchiha crest on it…"

"Shut up, Konoha trash!" Sumiko yelled. She stopped the pain from the mark on his arm. She knelt and placed a hand over it, allowing her icy hands to cool his mark.

Sasuke leaned forward quickly and kissed her.

"You've been drinking," Sumiko noted as Sasuke broke the kiss.

"You've been eating taiyaki," Sasuke smirked.

"Let me go," Sumiko tried to make the ice appear, but it didn't. She began to panic. Sasuke moved and fell on top of her.

"Get off of me!" Sumiko screamed and ice finally appeared and pushed him away. Sumiko summoned snakes to bind Sasuke and ran off into the forest.

"Sumiko, don't leave again!" Sasuke yelled as he burned the snakes. Soon, other men began to follow Sasuke.

"Oi, she's so pretty," one of them snickered.

"Leave her alone," another chimed. "She's mine."

The men began to talk dirty and Sasuke tried his best to not kill them.

"You know, that Forest is called the ghost forest," a teen poked Sasuke's shoulder.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked as the group stopped by the trees.

"I mean that the trees emit a special kind of poison that affects people's minds and then ghosts from their past appear," he said. "Wait…aren't you…"

Sasuke weaved signs and burned some of the forest.

"Come out, Sumiko!" Sasuke yelled as his sharingan flared. Black flames followed with ice forming around the entire group.

"This is so hot!" one of the men gasped. After saying that, his head popped off and blood sprayed.

"I'm a bad mood," Sumiko stepped out. "If any of you are a Konoha shinobi or are in the mood to die, I suggest you talk more." Killer intent shut everyone up.

"Come back to Konoha," Sasuke wheezed as the ice squeezed him.

"You and Naruto and Sakura talk about coming back to that rotting village! There's nothing there except ghosts of the past," Sumiko said. She turned at saw something.

"Haku-nii…" Sumiko took out a kunai and threw it at the ghost. She flared her chakra and burned the rest of the forest.

"You're…" a Kiri ANBU appeared after an hour after the forest burned to ash. Sumiko was sitting in the ashes.

"What of it, Kiri trash?" Sumiko glared. The ANBU backed away and ran for backup.

In the ashes, Sumiko shed tears. Pale lines of where the tears had cut away the ash shone on her face, with the rest of her face was covered with a thin layer of ash.

Sasuke had gone to complete his mission and promised to come back. Sumiko stood and made her way to Kirigakure no Sato. _I'm going to kill every last one of them._


	15. Haku

Sasuke handed the scroll to Mei.

"What's your name again?" she asked.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he replied. Suddenly, an explosion rocked the village. Ice spikes and black flames exploded from the epicenter. Sasuke gasped.

"Sumiko," Sasuke whispered.

"You know who's doing this?" Mei asked.

"Yes, the nuke-nin Uchiha Sumiko," Sasuke said. "She's from Kiri and possesses the ice release kekkei genkai," Sasuke said.

"What?" Mei's eyes widened.

"Yes. I don't know why she's attacking Kirigakure, but I can stop her," Sasuke said. He activated his sharingan as him and Mei raced to Sumiko.

"Sumiko!" Sasuke yelled. He stopped and saw a skeleton of chakra had covered her body, in a color of charcoal.

"Sasuke, what is this?" Mei asked as she weaved signs for her kekkei genkai. Sumiko frowned; she couldn't copy her jutsu. Sumiko simply summoned snakes and foxes to attack the weaker shinobi and faced off against the Mizukage and Sasuke.

* * *

><p>Sumiko stabbed Mei again as she bled on the ground.<p>

"Who killed Haku-nii, the one who decimated Iwa's armies ten years ago?" Sumiko asked, shoving her sword deeper into Mei's stomach.

"I…I don't know," Mei coughed up some more blood. She closed her eyes and fell into unconsciousness.

"Perhaps Sasuke would know," Sumiko noted as she walked to Sasuke, who was bound in strong seals. Sumiko snapped her fingers and the scrolls rolled back up and she put them in her pocket.

"Who killed Haku-nii?" Sumiko asked. Sasuke stood and tried to stab her with a kunai, but her ice defense stopped him.

"I don't know!" Sasuke yelled. He tried to grab her, but the ice stabbed his arm and pushed him away.

"Liar," Sumiko said and used her sharingan to look into his memories. After looking, she couldn't find what information she wanted. Sasuke fell to his knees. Sumiko felt tears roll down her cheeks.

"Well, welcome to the suffering group. Of course, I didn't expect you to be a new member," Sumiko wiped her tears away.

"Don't you get it now?" Sasuke panted hard. He deactivated his sharingan.

"What?" Sumiko whispered, falling to her knees.

"I still love you, even though you've tried to kill me," Sasuke said, reaching out to stroke her face. To her horror, he succeeded.

"Why isn't my ice appearing?" Sumiko's hands shook.

Sasuke smiled at her.

"I don't understand…my ice is supposed to appear at my will and to protect me," Sumiko said. "Unless the ice knows you're not an enemy?"

"I never was," Sasuke said.

"L-liar!" Sumiko yelled and ran. She ran until she reached the town where she'd seen Sasuke.

"One order of taiyaki," Sumiko said. She handed him a few leaves she'd transformed into money.

"Thanks," Sumiko said as he handed her taiyaki. She wandered through the village, not eating. She walked until she couldn't walk anymore and collapsed in the snow.

* * *

><p>Sumiko woke up feeling cold. Snow had settled on her and she blinked. No one had tracked her down. Yet.<p>

She heard soft snoring. She sat up and saw shocked to see Sasuke had found her and passed out. She got up and left the taiyaki there.

Snow crunched under her feet. She kept walking. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew she had to walk.

After a few days, she found herself at Konoha's gates.

A group of ninja had assembled itself, waiting for her.

"What did you do to Sasuke?" Sakura asked. Black eyes studied her. Sumiko didn't want to speak; she couldn't trust what would come out of her mouth.

"Why did you attack Kirigakure?" Kiba asked.

"Where is he buried?" Sumiko asked.

"Haku?" Shikamaru asked, not letting down his guard for a second.

"Sumiko-chan!" Naruto ran up to her. He tried to hug her from the ice, but she fashioned an ice spear and stabbed him. He flew back and was pinned to a tree.

"Where?" Sumiko asked again. Her black eyes looked tired.

"We never recovered his body," Shikamaru said.

"I see…do any of you know who killed him?" Sumiko asked tiredly.

"Why would we tell you?" Kiba growled.

"Otherwise I'll kill everyone in Konoha right now if you don't tell me. I killed half of Kirigakure, so don't take me lightly, Kiba," Sumiko yawned.

After a few moments of silence, Sumiko froze them and put Kakashi and Naruto under the tsukuyomi. She walked into the village and was approached by many ninja, most of which she simply incapacitated.

* * *

><p>She blinked her tiredness away. It had been about a day since she'd come back, and there was one ninja left.<p>

"Did you kill Haki-nii?" Sumiko asked.

"Yeah," Danzo said.

"Why?" Sumiko asked as her susanoo came into existence.

"Because he was poking his nose into my work and refused to join. When he was going to report me, I imprisoned him. However, he wouldn't break after all the torture I did. When I mentioned you, a person who Konoha must kill, he broke out of all his seals and told me to never insult you in his presence. I stabbed him and he tried to kill me with his ice. I eventually had to kill him, seeing how he wasn't useful to the village for me and didn't want to join Konoha's shinobi ranks and—" Danzo stopped midsentence as Sumiko stabbed him with ice and her sword, which she lit on fire.

* * *

><p>Sumiko screamed in victory. She'd killed Danzo, even with his twisted sharingan arm. She began to laugh in pure elation and collapsed on her back.<p>

"Nii-san!" she screamed and pointed to the sky. Snow began to fall and she grinned.

"Sumiko!" Sasuke and Naruto ran up to her and grabbed her arms. Sumiko continued to laugh. Her ice didn't appear.

"What's so funny?" Naruto asked.

"He's dead! I killed him! Nii-san is avenged! There's only one more thing I have to do," Sumiko sobered herself up. She transformed into a fox and ran off. Sasuke ran after the fox and she made no attempt to stop him.


	16. Akatsuki

Sumiko ended up killing Itachi. Sasuke had gotten knocked unconscious and Sumiko fought him off as well as she could. Sasuke slowly rose to his feet. With Sumiko and Sasuke pushed against the wall, Itachi smiled and poked their foreheads. He faceplanted and died.

Sumiko fell, unconscious. Sasuke followed suit and they were picked up by a masked shinobi.

* * *

><p>"Sumiko…" Sasuke opened his eyes and looked around. Tied to him with his back pressed against his, was Sumiko. Her eyes were already open. Dark circles of worry and stress were illuminated in the dark room.<p>

Sumiko and Sasuke turned to the masked man and the Amaterasu activated, setting him on fire when they saw his sharingan.

Sumiko gritted her teeth and tried to burn him more. The masked man ended up having to cover her eyes, seeing how she wanted to kill him.

"Who are you?" Sumiko demanded. "Uncover my eyes!"

"No. I'm going to tell you the truth of Itachi and the Uchiha clan," Tobi said.

"He's nothing but a dirty murderer!" Sumiko yelled, thrashing.

"Oi, Sumiko, stop moving!" Sasuke hissed.

"Shut it, Uchiha," Sumiko growled, but complied.

* * *

><p>Sumiko was silent.<p>

"I can't believe nii-san would…he cared so much for me and the village. I'm going to protect it, in his honor, and to honor our promise," Sasuke said to Sumiko. Sumiko remained silent.

"Mask, let Sasuke go. I've decided what I'm going to do," Sumiko said.

"Yeah," Tobi said and let Sasuke and Sumiko out of their bonds.

"Let's protect Konoha together. With you, it'll be safe," Sasuke smiled.

Sumiko gritted her teeth.

"Go and warn them," Sumiko said. Sasuke nodded and left.

"Well?" Tobi asked.

"I'm going to destroy Konoha. Itachi suffered too much and it's Konoha's fault," Sumiko said, her sharingan glowing the dark. She wiped her tears away.

* * *

><p>Sumiko gathered Suigetsu, Karin, and Juugo.<p>

"We're going to destroy Konoha. However, before we do that, we have to kill the Hokage first. I hear that since the village was obliterated, the Akatsuki has become an international threat. They're holding a Kage Summit in the Land of Iron. There, we'll kill not only the Hokage, but also all the nation leaders. We'll start at Konoha and bring down this shinobi world," Sumiko said. "Objections?"

They shook their heads.

"Let's go," Sumiko said and began the journey to the Land of Iron.

* * *

><p>The decision by Tsunade-sama was something Sasuke never thought he'd hear. He never thought they'd actually have to kill Sumiko. Sasuke collapsed on a stack of wood benches.<p>

"No way…" Sasuke shook.

"Sasuke-kun," Ino said.

"Stop your whining, Uchiha," Kiba remarked. "She was dead the moment she left the village."

"Shut up, you ass!" Sasuke yelled. "You wouldn't understand!"

"Sasuke, there's nothing we can do. Even you couldn't stop her. Neji, Kiba, Chouji, Naruto, and I almost lost our lives trying to bring her back. All there's left is who is going to do the dirty work of killing her," Shikamaru clicked his tongue as Sasuke began to cry.

"I can't believe Sumiko would have such an impact on him," Sakura said to Ino.

"Yeah," Ino nodded.

"I'm not going to let anyone kill her!" Sasuke said.

"Then she'll just kill you. Remember the last time she was here? She nearly killed us. And, she managed to kill a fourth of Kirigakure's shinobi. I don't think she cares about any of our lives anymore," Shikamaru reminded him. Sasuke gritted his teeth and punched the wood behind him.

"But…I still love her," Sasuke whispered.

"Yeah," Shikamaru sighed.

* * *

><p>"You two are my escorts. We'll be leaving in ten minutes. Be at the gates sooner than that," Tsunade said. Sasuke and Neji nodded.<p>

The way to the Land of Iron was rather boring. That was, until Neji spotted enemy ninja around the building.

"Tsunade-sama, they're moving too fast to get a good look, but I suggest we keep our guard up," Neji said as they stepped into the buildings.

"Yeah," Tsunade said.

Neji and Sasuke knelt behind the banner of the Land of Fire.

"Who do you think is here?" Neji hissed to Sasuke.

"I don't know. I'm hoping Sumiko isn't here. I don't want to hurt her," Sasuke said.

"You really love her, don't you?" Neji smiled at the Uchiha.

"Y-yeah," Sasuke blushed and looked away.

* * *

><p>When Zetsu appeared, Sasuke and Neji stood with defensive stances in front of Tsunade.<p>

"Uchiha Sumiko has infiltrated the building! Now where could she be hiding?" Zetsu grinned.

"Sumiko?" Gaara asked in shock. The Raikage was in too much of a rage to listen to Zetsu anymore.

"The one with the sharingan and ice release?" Mei asked.

"I heard she joined the Akatsuki," the Tsuchikage said.

"Everyone, let's find Sasuke! Yeah!" Zetsu yelled as the Raikage took his neck and strangled him.

"Where is Uchiha Sumiko?!" he growled. "Spit it out!"  
>"Seems like I have no choice. I'll give you a hint—" Zetsu's neck was snapped by the Raikage.<p>

He punched a hole in the wall and he ran with C and Darui following him.

One of the samurai thought he'd found Sumiko, only to get kicked down and knocked unconscious.

Sumiko looked at the samurai with contempt.

She walked in front of a large group of samurai.

"I'm in a bad mood right now. If you come after me, I won't go easy," Sumiko said.

"That's our line!" the samurai yelled and released chakra using his sword. Sumiko dispersed the chakra with her sword. Many samurai ran towards her, but she slashed through their armor easily. Most of which she killed on the spot.

The ceiling cracked and three people came through.

"Brat! I'm going to teach you the fear of true rage!" Raikage yelled.

Sumiko raced towards him. Darui unleashed a water jutsu and a lightning jutsu one after the other. Sumiko jumped out of the water. After dispelling a genjutsu and having Juugo defend her, she watched the Raikage from on the wall. Her sharingan glowed slightly as she stared at him.

Sumiko moved right in front of C. Catching him under her genjutsu was easy. Then, he collapsed.

Sumiko stood in front of the Raikage with her sword on fire. She charged at the Raikage and she ducked under his arm and enveloped her hand in flames. She managed to touch his skin, but he lifted her up and threw her down headfirst.

Her black susanoo protected her from having her head split open. She jumped back and looked at him with her mangekyo sharingan. Blood dripped down her cheek from her eye. She created a wall of black flames as he tried to punch her susanoo armor.

"Don't underestimate me!" he yelled. He punched though it and she flew back a few feet. On her back, she covered her eye and cough up some blood.

She created a covering of black flames as he tried to drop kick on her body.

However, sand protected her. _This…_

Gaara walked up with his arms crossed.

"Why did you stop my fight?" Raikage yelled.

"You don't have to risk yourself more. Also, I want to talk to Uchiha Sumiko," Gaara said. Sumiko looked at him critically. Kankuro and Temari chided Gaara about something. Gaara's sand raced towards Sumiko. Black flames tried to get to Gaara, but his sand protected him.

"You did well protecting yourself from my flames. Looks like your 'ultimate defense' is still doing a good job," Sumiko smirked. "However…"

Ice spears went through the whole building. Black flames followed suit. She secretly created a clone and it went to look to the Hokage.

"Ahh!" Sasuke yelled as the ice spear pinned his shirt to the wall. Suddenly, she was at the doorway.

"Found you," Sumiko said. The Tsuchikage weaved signs for his particle release, but Tsunade stopped him.

"Why are you stopping me?" Tsuchikage asked.

"I'll deal with her, female to female," Mei said, glaring at the girl who tried to kill her.

"No, Tsunade! Uchiha and Uchiha," Sasuke argued.

"I'm not fighting you. You aren't worth fighting," Sumiko said as she jumped on the ceiling.

All four attacks came towards Sumiko. It exploded in front of her and she allowed susanoo to protect her. Her susanoo had grown to become larger and more powerful.

"Gaara, observe the 'ultimate defense'," Sumiko said.

Gaara watched in silence. _Is this the power…of darkness?_

"This is the power that only those who have awakened the mangekyo sharingan can attain. The third power: susanoo," Sumiko said. Suddnely, she grinned and she attacked the pillars. The ceiling began to fall. Everyone moved back.

Sumiko dispelled her clone and began to run towards the room.

_So Sasuke's here too, huh?_

"She's here," Neji said. Sasuke tensed.

On the ceiling, Sumiko stood.

Neji jumped first and attacked her, but she blocked with her ice. Sumiko tried to get out of the room, seeing how Tsunade must've gone somewhere, but Mei's lava blocked the entrance.

"Now I see why Sasuke likes you," Mei said, seeing the Uchiha clearly. Sumiko had grown to be even more striking than before, even though blood marred her face.

"Stay out of my way," Sumiko said, activating her mangekyo sharingan.

"It's such a shame you're so pretty and talented," Mei stood. She spat out lava again and Sumiko summoned susanoo.

Sumiko's defense was pushed back until she was outside in the corridor. Mei ran out after her.

_Every cell in my body hurts. So this is the risk susanoo poses. _

"Sumiko!" Sasuke yelled.

"Stay back! She's an S-rank nuke-nin! You know that," Neji said.

Sumiko looked up and saw she was trapped with this kekkei genkai user.

Mei released another kekkei genkai jutsu. Susanoo started to melt. She dropped to her knees and coughed up more blood.

"Sumiko's chakra is getting weaker," Neji said.

Before Mei could finish Sumiko off despite the acid mist, Zetsu began to grow on them like mold.

Sumiko exploded the lava that had cooled and fell to her knees.

"Sumiko, are you alright?!" Sasuke yelled, freeing himself from the ice spear after melting it.

Sumiko covered her eye and gritted her teeth in pain. Tsuchikage trapped her in his dust release technique and she disappeared.

"No! Sumiko!" Sasuke yelled and ran over.

"Sumiko's chakra…is gone," Neji said. Sasuke screamed. Neji slapped him. "Get a hold of yourself!"

Tobi appeared.

"Sumiko isn't dead. Raikage, Tsuchikage, and all of you still have the chance to kill her."

Slung over his shoulder was Sumiko.

"Sumiko!" Sasuke screamed, slightly happy. Then, Tobi explained his goals and declared war on the shinobi world.

"I won't let you use Sumiko like that!" Sasuke charged at him, but went through him.

"What?" Sasuke said in disbelief. He slammed into the wall. Then, he disappeared with Sumiko.

"No! Sumiko!" Sasuke tried to jump into his jutsu, but he was too late; she was gone.

"Dammit!" Sasuke slammed his fist against the ground.

Neji sighed.

"Tsunade-sama," Neji stood as Tsunade came in, clearly exhausted. "What happened?"

"Sumiko appeared and fought the Raikage. Then coming here, she briefly engaged Mizukage-sama in a battle, which Sumiko came out of with burns and blood marring her face from her eyes, which was from her battle with Raikage-sama. Then, she was taken away by a masked shinobi," Neji said.

"She's slipped through our fingers again?" Tsunade said bitterly.

"I-I'm sorry Tsunade, I've failed, again," Sasuke said, bowing.

"Sasuke…" Neji said.

"You're not to blame. Who's to blame is Orochimaru. He pulled her away from her in the first place," Tsunade placed a hand on his shoulder.

Sasuke hiccupped and sighed.

"Was she your girlfriend or something?" Gaara and Mei asked.

"Yeah. Apparently our bond wasn't strong enough to keep her in Konoha, and now that nii-san is dead, she changed," Sasuke said.

"Itachi, huh?" Gaara sighed.

* * *

><p>Back in Konoha, it prepared itself for war. Sumiko sat atop the Hokage monument, watching the commotion.<p>

"Why're you here again?" Tobi asked.

"I don't know," Sumiko answered honestly. "Maybe, deep down, if this were a different time, that I'd go back to Sasuke and we'd be happy together. But, since war is coming, again, we have to prepare," Sumiko said.

"Well, it's good our numbers in the Akatsuki have only lost two members: Konan and Nagato. Now that you're joining along with the three you have, we gain two more members in terms of amount of people," Tobi said.

"Introduce me to them. It'll be useful," Sumiko said as her and Tobi disappeared. Little did they know that Sasuke was below them, listening. He was shocked to learn that Sumiko might still have a bond with him, even though she kept trying to kill him.

"Oi, Sasuke!" Kiba yelled. "Naruto's left to go to Kumogakure! Help us prepare!"

"Yeah," Sasuke jumped down.

"You're even more handsome than I would've thought you'd be! Just like your mother," Kushina grinned to the young Uchiha.

"You knew my mother?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, me and her were best friends!" Kushina said. "And, they'd never admit it, but your father and Minato were best friends."

"Minato?"

"Naruto's father, the Yondaime Hokage," Kushina said.

"So that's why Sandaime had Naruto keep your name. Iwa and Kumo would've gone after him and killed him since the Yondaime was so powerful in the third shinobi war," Sasuke realized.

"I suppose," Kushina said. "This world is so different compared to sixteen years ago."

"Yeah," Sasuke nodded. _Sumiko, what are you planning now?_


	17. Konoha

Sumiko sat next to Kabuto as he stayed by his board of Edo Tensei.

"Don't you want to go out?" Kabuto asked.

"No," Sumiko said. She leaned on the wall, bored. Still, she didn't want to go out. Sasuke and Naruto and all of their pleading faces marred with blood would be there. That was the last thing she wanted to see.

"Why?" Kabuto was genuinely confused.

Sumiko didn't respond. She found herself getting up.

"Well, if you're going out, why not get some fresh air with these two?" Kabuto asked as two coffins opened to reveal Itachi and Nagato.

"Yeah," Sumiko nodded.

"Sumiko?" Itachi asked.

Sumiko sighed and carried Nagato to wherever Kabuto had wanted these two to go.

"How is Sasuke?" Itachi asked.

"In your honor, he's protecting the village. In your footsteps," she gave him a knowing look.

"You know?" Itachi asked. Sumiko nodded.

"Why aren't you with him? Knowing that stubborn mind of his, I know he still likes you," Itachi smiled.

"I can't," Sumiko said.

Itachi didn't query why.

"Do you know Naruto?" Nagato asked.

"Hn," Sumiko didn't look at him. "See for yourself."

Sasuke and Naruto arrived by a lake, where the two former Akatsuki members were.

"Sumiko-chan!" Naruto grinned.

"Sumiko!" Sasuke grinned.

"Hm," Itachi looked at her. She glared with her sharingan.

"Nagato!" Naruto grinned. Sumiko jumped back, sensing the difference in their chakra flow as they stopped acting like their normal selves. Sumiko surveyed the battle with mild interest.

"Sumiko, help me!" Sasuke yelled. He was barely keeping up with Itachi.

"You want me to kill him again?" Sumiko challenged. "You're Konoha's best fire release ninja. At least try."

"Please!" Sasuke said. Sumiko sighed and disappeared. Just as Itachi was about to deal the final blow to kill Sasuke, Sumiko stopped him and threw him to the ground and set him ablaze with the Amaterasu.

Sumiko took out her sword and readied herself. Itachi sprung back up sooner than she thought and she blocked his incoming attack. She set her sword on fire.

"Ice Release: Ice Shards," Sumiko whispered and ice shards flew at the Uchiha. Itachi dodged and Sasuke raced towards him, seeing an opening, but Itachi's body moved faster than he would've been able to move when alive. Sasuke readied himself to feel the pain of a kunai in his stomach, but he opened his eyes to see Sumiko had used her body to shield him.

"I don't know…my body moved on it's own," Sumiko coughed. Blood ran down her lips and she set Itachi on fire. Actiavting susanoo, she protected Sasuke from being attacked again.

"I know a little of medical ninjutsu," Sasuke said. "Lift your shirt."

Sumiko couldn't move; the kunai had poison on it. Sasuke noticed and lifted it for her. He blushed and focused on healing her.

"Your skin…is really pretty…and pale," Sasuke muttered. Sumiko focused on breathing and looked to her left. Itachi was trying to get past her susanoo, but saw that it was more difficult than it seemed. Sumiko summoned the last of her strength.

She froze his blood and then made the ice into tiny spears and it killed Itachi from the inside. Sumiko sighed and began to close her eyes.

"I'm proud of you, Sumiko, Sasuke," Itachi smiled as him and Nagato disappeared. Naruto ran over, panting and bleeding from a small cut on his head.

"Sumiko-chan!" he knelt as her susanoo disappeared. "What happened?"  
>"I…" Sumiko coughed up more blood.<p>

"Don't speak! We'll get you to Sakura," Sasuke said and picked her up. He raced to Sakura's camp.

Sumiko stared at his face as they went there.

"Sleep, Sumiko," Sasuke said. Sumiko avoided his eyes, knowing he wanted to put her under a genjutsu. She stared at the clouds.

* * *

><p>"Sakura!" Sasuke yelled, sounding panicked. Sakura ran out.<p>

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked. She looked down and saw Sumiko.

"What happened?" Sakura took Sumiko and set her down on a bed.

"She was stabbed with a poison kunai," Sasuke said.

Sakura set to work to extract the poison from Sumiko's wound.

"It's a moderately strong poison, it won't kill her so long she doesn't go back into battle for today," Sakura wiped her brow.

"That's great," Sasuke smiled down at Sumiko, who was unconscious.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun," Sakura smiled sadly. "You've always…loved her, haven't you?"

"Huh?" Sasuke asked. "I…well…I suppose now it's unrequited love," Sasuke sighed.

Sakura looked at Sumiko. Her flawless skin was something she'd once been jealous of, but now she pitied Sumiko. Her skin was a contradiction to everything that's happened to her. The innocent skin that in a different era would've brought her great things in life and a peaceful life was soaked in blood and pain.

"War…doesn't leave anyone untouched, huh?" Sakura muttered.

"Yeah," Sumiko opened her eyes. "But a simple medic ninja wouldn't know…the pain of the ones who sacrifice," Sumiko glanced at Sasuke's tattoo. Sumiko slowly rose to her feet and summoned ice to cover the wound. She walked out with a slight limp.

"Oi, Sumiko! You shouldn't be moving around," Sasuke pulled her back. Sumiko activated susanoo and walked off.

"Don't get in my way," Sumiko warned and walked off. Her steps were uneven and staggered, but she managed well enough.

"I'm not going to let you go so easily this time!" Sasuke yelled and unfurled scrolls. They raced towards her, but burned once they touched the black chakra defense. Sasuke gritted his teeth and charged at her with a kunai. It broke once it hit the chakra. He tried shuriken in flames and lightning release jutsu, but it didn't work.

"Why…are you so strong?" Sasuke asked.

Sumiko kept walking.

"You shouldn't be angry for not being able to kill as easily as I do," Sumiko said.

"Huh?" Sasuke asked.

"I've killed thousands…my hands are stained with blood. To gain something, something must be given. For me, that was lives. I lost my family, my cousin, and killed many in Kiri. I killed a Konoha elder, Itachi, and so many more," Sumiko said. "What I gained in return was strength. Strength that is soaked in suffering and blood. The kind of strength that I managed to do one thing right with," Sumiko felt tears roll down her cheeks.

"Which is?" Sasuke asked.

"Making sure you were safe from gaining such dirty power. Making sure that you never fell prey to what I had to take. And, making sure that you lived happily so long that I wasn't there to taint you," Sumiko gritted her teeth and disappeared. _I know what I must do now!  
><em>Sumiko landed by Gaara's company. She proved to fare well against the real Madara.

Sasuke held his head in his hands. _Nii-san…and Sumiko…they both tried their hardest to protect me. Why? Why would they sacrifice so much for me? I'm a weak ninja, I can't even beat them; I needed Sumiko's help to take down nii-san. _

"Another Uchiha brat?" Madara asked. Sumiko tightened her grip around her sword.

"The only," Sumiko said.

"What do you mean?"

"The Uchiha were killed in a massacre to prevent a war. There are only two Uchiha left, but he's weak," Sumiko said. Her mouth felt bitter insulting him like that, but it was the truth. Sumiko activated her cursed seal and allowed susanoo to grow.

"So you have the mangekyo sharingan," Madara noticed. "And at such a young age."

"Ice Release: Ice Spears," Sumiko whispered as ice came out of her mouth.

"And a kekkei genkai to top it off. What an interesting child you are. Shame I have to kill you," Madara charged at her. She jumped forward. Black flames clashed with deep orange ones and ice with exploding kunai. Sumiko unsealed multiple weapons and threw it at him in a rain. Sumiko grabbed Madara's collar and tried to use Tsukuyomi on him.

It worked for a minute. In that minute, she showed him all the suffering she'd gone through. He broke the genjutsu and sighed.

"I see why you didn't bring the other Uchiha now," he sighed. "You care for him too much. That's why you put that seal on him. Release the seal. It's been a long time since I've fought an opponent as strong as you. Although, not as strong as Hashirama," Madara said. "You're spending too much chakra on keeping the seal in place."

"I'll die protecting him if that's what it comes to," Sumiko said.

* * *

><p>Sumiko found herself unable to move. The pain of his attacks no longer bothered her.<p>

"What a shame," Madara shook his head. He left, probably moving on to engage someone else.

"Naruto…don't die," Sumiko whispered. She felt ice cover her body and it enveloped her and hardened.

Sumiko sighed and relaxed. She was focusing on staying alive since her battle with the legend of the Uchiha clan was one he'd simply not killed her after a time. She gritted her teeth. Her life was simply a game to this man; a life he decided to spare. _Not worth killing, huh? _

After an hour of realizing her wounds had stopped bleeding from the ice, she broke the ice and moved to sit. She gazed in the distance and saw that a small group of people were coming. Sumiko frowned and disappeared.

* * *

><p>"I was wondering where you were," Kabuto sighed. "Why did you fight Madara?"<p>

"I've reprioritized," Sumiko said.

"So, what? You're fighting on the shinobi's side?" Kabuto chuckled. "You don't look so good," Kabuto lay a hand on her stomach and a green light appeared. She lay on her back next to him. She closed her eyes.

She felt the cold lips of Kabuto on hers.

"I've always admired you," Kabuto broke the kiss.

"Stupid snake pervert," Sumiko muttered as she turned away from him.

"Ah-ah. You're not healed fully," he waved a finger disapprovingly. He continued healing her and kissing her until she realized in a tired haze that her shirt had come off.

"Kabuto, leave me alone," she argued and staggered away from him, leaning against the wall opposite him.

"Do as you wish," he smirked. Then, the wall broke, revealing Itachi and Sasuke. Sumiko gripped her shirt and lay on the floor. She closed her eyes and slept, not caring if Kabuto died right now at Itachi's hands or not.

"Sumiko," Sasuke approached her again. She turned and saw Itachi was glowing.

"You're going?" Sumiko asked, seemingly uninterested.

"Yeah. I want to give you some parting words," Itachi gave them memories of the Uchiha massacre.

"No matter what you do, Sasuke, I'll always love you. Sumiko, I advise that you come to terms with your feelings about Sasuke. If you end up being with him for the rest of your life, you have my approval," Itachi said as he disappeared.

"Idiot," Sumiko muttered and turned back over.

Sasuke wiped away tears. "Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

"Well, since Kabuto is…" Sumiko stood and sliced off his head. "Dead, it doesn't matter why," Sumiko grinned at Sasuke. Sasuke embraced her and kissed her passionately.

"It was Kabuto, wasn't it? Your lips are cold. They're usually warm," Sasuke said.

"Great," Sumiko said as she sheathed her sword and glanced at Sasuke.

"What, are you jealous?" Sumiko challenged.

"Yes, I am. I'm just angry that you killed him before I could. You're mine," Sasuke said, pinning her against the wall and kissed her.

"In your dreams," Sumiko said.

"Oh?"

"Whatever, Uchiha," Sumiko kissed him back.

* * *

><p>The war ended and Naruto and Sumiko were praised as heroes. However, Sumiko still had to serve jail time. For a year, they said. Clearly unsatisfied, Sasuke managed to argue on her behalf (she didn't care either way) to lessen her sentence to eight months.<p>

"Pshh, fine," Sasuke glared at the Raikage. "I won't forgive you for being so hard on her."

"Hard? Please, she's the most dangerous nuke-nin we've seen in generations. If this were my village, I'd have her killed on the spot, no questions asked," Raikage answered.

Sasuke glared with his still three tomoe sharingan.

"Heh, she's even more of an Uchiha than you, despite her being only half," Raikage snorted.

"Oi!" Sasuke growled. "I'm the heir so she'll have to listen to my orders," Sasuke glanced at Sumiko, who was sitting with more than enough seals on her body on a chair with a bored expression.

"You're just like your father," Kushina remarked. "Ordering Mikoto-chan around. Yet, she was more powerful than him when it came to fighting. Even Minato had a hard time," Kushina laughed. Sasuke blushed and Sumiko sighed.

"Am I even going or not?" Sumiko asked impatiently.

"Yeah, yeah," Kakashi said and picked her up. The two of them went on a boat to Kusagakure, where the special prison was.

"You know, once you left, Sasuke went into a state of depression. He debated going after you and denied the fact that you'd kill him the moment you saw him when I pointed it out," Kakashi said. "However, I'm surprised you agreed to marry him."

"Like I had a choice. I'm the only other Uchiha out there who meets the requirements of: is strong, pretty, a female, and Sasuke likes," Sumiko said.

"Mhmm…" Kakashi hummed.

"What?" Sumiko glared. She couldn't activate her sharingan so she could only look scary.

"I'm just thinking how hard I'm going to pummel him if you get pregnant within your first year of marriage," Kakashi glanced at Sumiko.

"Shut up. Like I'm going to let that happen so easily. Remember I can still kick his ass any day," Sumiko growled. Kakashi pulled out a scroll and summoned Sasuke.

"And then Sumiko—" Sasuke stopped in midsentence. He turned red.

"Hey there…" Sasuke waved.

"Tell Kakashi he can drown himself now," Sumiko said.

"What did you tell her?" Sasuke asked. Kakashi grinned under his mask. With a glint in his eye, he told Sasuke.

"W-what?!" Sasuke looked away. "But…"

"So you did want children early!" Kakashi chuckled dangerously.

"Shut up, both of you!" Sumiko's face donned a slight pink color. "You two act like I'm not here. Go talk dirty somewhere else."

"Dirty? This is your future," Kakashi said smoothly.

"Gah, just go away," Sumiko stood and walked to the railing.

Sasuke and Kakashi exchanged looks. Kakashi glared at Sasuke. Sasuke sweatdropped and moved away swiftly.

"We're here," Kakashi said as he reapplied the seals and tied her. He picked her up and carried her to the gates.

"Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Sasuke delivering Uchiha Sumiko for charges of treason for eight months," Kakashi said in monotone.

"We've been expecting her," a guard said and opened the gate. Kakashi walked in with Sasuke following.

Sumiko was set down in a room with Kakashi and Sasuke watching from the outside. Inside were other inmates. They eyed Sumiko and grinned. She paid them no attention. A warden came and applied seals on them. Fire release seals. Sasuke sighed.

"She's going to break that seal after a while, isn't she?" Sasuke grinned at Kakashi. He nodded.

The warden came up to Sumiko and punched her. She showed no emotion. He weaved signs and slammed his hand against her chest. She flew back and shakily stood.

"Heh, you're interesting," the warden said. "Uchiha Sumiko, right?"

Sumiko didn't nod as she stood to her feet and didn't move an inch. She acted like she didn't feel like her body was on fire. The warden continued applying seals to the rest of the inmates. Then, they were separated by gender and examined. Sumiko came out clean.

"See ya, Sumiko," Kakashi walked away from the bars. Sasuke smiled and left.

* * *

><p>Sumiko lay in her bed, trying to ignore the taunts from the other inmates.<p>

"Filthy Uchiha…"

"She killed my brother…"

"I heard she fought Madara…"

"She killed a Konoha elder and her brother…"

Sumiko released a little killer intent.

"If you want to know about me, ask away," Sumiko said and focused on gathering nature energy with a clone she managed to create.

"What are you?"

"Uchiha, half," Sumiko said. "This may be easier if I tell you all then you'll ask your questions after," Sumiko exhaled.

"I'm from Kirigakure. My cousin was another ice release user. One day, our parents were killed and I protected him, despite being three years his junior. I was found by Hatake Kakashi, while Haku fled and ended up joining Momochi Zabuza, one of the Seven Swordsmen. I grew up in Konoha and unlocked my sharingan and ice release protecting Uzumaki Naruto, who was being beaten in an alley. I was five. The same year I met Uchiha Sasuke and his family. Three years later, the Uchiha Massacre happened. I was there that night. Uchiha Itachi spared us both. Four years later, I participated in the Chuunin Exams under Hatake Kakashi. My teammates were Naruto and Sasuke. I was given the curse mark by Orochimaru and realized he had the power to give me to realize my dream: to kill those in Kirigakure who were still prejudiced against kekkei genkai users. I trained under Orochimaru for three years and then I saw my teammates again. I went back to Konoha briefly to get more information on the sharingan. I encountered my teammates again and used a new ice release technique on them that I'd been thinking about, controlling the water in their veins and freezing it. After this, I killed Danzo, a Konoha elder for killing Haku. Then, I faced off against Uchiha Itachi with Uchiha Sasuke. We won and Itachi died. Then, I went to the Five Kage Summit to kill Tsunade and the other Kage. I wanted to kill them because it would reform the shinobi world so that no one would suffer like he did. Then, I managed to force the Raikage to cut off his arm and I fought in the Fourth Shinobi War and faced off against the real Madara. Once the war ended, I went back to Konoha with the lovesick Uchiha Sasuke and I was sent here," Sumiko said.

"Huh…" one of them breathed.

"Any questions?" Sumiko asked.

"Yeah, aren't you supposed to revive the Uchiha clan?"

"Go to sleep," Sumiko said and lay on her bed.


	18. Heirs

Sumiko fingered the ring on her finger as she walked to the Academy. Memories came back in a wave. She turned to Sasuke, who simply gave her a reassuring nod.

"Kaa-chan?" the small boy turned to look up at her.

"What, Toshiro?" Sumiko asked.

"I'm going to be the best one in my class!" he announced proudly.

"Kaa-san, why are the other kids avoiding you?" Ran asked. The girl, a year older, glanced up at her mother. Sumiko glanced around. The other children seemed scared of her, even though she hadn't done anything. Yet.

"Maybe they're just afraid of my scary nuke-nin aura," Sumiko grinned.

"Oi, Sumiko!" Sasuke frowned at her.

"They're going into the Academy, and their brother is a half year ahead because someone decided to give them an unfair head start," Sumiko said.

"Naruto challenged me! I couldn't back out without looking weak!" Sasuke argued.

"Oh? Is it because he's the Hokage? I could beat him any day," Sumiko said.

"Waaa~ you're Sumiko, right?!" a small boy ran up to her. She picked him up by the back of his collar.

"Hey, let me down!" he yelled. "Kaa-san!"

Hinata ran up. "Oh, it's you, Sumiko-san."

Sumiko nodded to her friend.

"You know kaa-san?" the boy asked. Red hair shone in the sunlight.

"Yeah. You're that Hokage's kid, right?" Sumiko eyed him.

"Where's your sharingan?" he asked. Sumiko stopped.

"I don't know," Sumiko closed her eyes and showed her sharingan.

"Cool! How come tou-chan doesn't have that?" the boy turned to his mother.

Hinata smiled sheepishly and they entered the Academy. Sumiko smirked slightly as she saw the new teachers.

They introduced themselves to the parents as the children were in another room being supervised.

An explosion came from the room. Sumiko announced she'd deal with it as she broke down the door.

"K-kaa-san…" Ran cringed, seeing her mother scowling.

"Aside from Ran, who else caused this explosion?" Sumiko put her hands on her hips. Silence.

Sumiko growled and an ice spear came into her hands.

"Now, which of you did it? I know I didn't teach you anything except water walking," Sumiko glanced at her daughter.

"I did," a boy announced. Red hair stood out. Sumiko disappeared and reappeared behind him. He gasped and turned. However, it was too late. She already had him in a block of ice.

"There. Ran, you aren't allowed to do anything for your boyfriend," Sumiko walked away.

"Boyfriend?! Kaa-san!" Ran yelled. Sumiko walked out and saw Naruto was late.

"You're late, and our children are dating," Sumiko informed him. His mouth dropped open. She slammed him against a wall before he could react.

With her mangekyo activated, she said, "If your child does anything to Ran, I'm going to kill you."

Ran stared at her mother.

"Someone…touched the Hokage!" one child pointed out.

Sumiko glanced at the child with her regular sharingan with three tomoe.  
>"And? I happen to be famous," Sumiko said. "Once you start the Academy, you'll find my whole life in your textbooks."<p>

* * *

><p>Sumiko's words turned out to be true.<p>

"This can't be true!" Ran yelled out. "My mother…wouldn't do this!"

"I'm afraid she did. However, after all this, she helped save the world with our Hokage. She's a hero," the teacher looked at Ran.

Minato and Ran sat together during lunch.

"I can't believe my mom took down half of Kirigakure, on her own," Ran muttered.

"I can't believe my dad was the previous Hokage's kid," Minato muttered. "And we have the same name."

"Yeah," Ran said. "Do you know any jutsu, being the Hokage's kid?"

"Yeah. I don't have the byakugan though. I suppose it was a 50/50 chance I'd get it anyway, seeing how my dad isn't a Hyuuga," Minato said. "Your lunch looks so good!"

"Really? My mom makes this pretty often," Ran said.

Minato sighed.  
>"What?" Ran asked.<p>

"It's so much pressure being the Hokage's son," he said.

"I know. I'm the middle child and I think my parents are planning to have another child," Ran said.

Minato smiled.

* * *

><p>"How was your first day?" Sasuke asked.<p>

"I can't believe mom was that evil! How did the Hokage let her back in the village?!" Ran exclaimed. Sumiko was carrying a few plates, but those shattered as she heard those words.

Sumiko didn't say anything. Ran turned to her, not seeing her there. Toshiro and Ran's sister, Keiko, ran over. By the time they got by the kitchen, Sumiko was gone.

"Sumiko," Sasuke muttered. "Ran, we're going to have a talk when I get your mother back." Sasuke's cold black eyes made this clear. She nodded.

Sasuke weaved multiple signs but was stopped as another ninja entered their home.

"There's no need for all that work, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru grinned.

"T-tou-san…is that…" Keiko whispered.

"I see you and my favorite student have been busy," Orochimaru glanced at the children. "Don't worry, Sasuke-kun. I have no interest in children like them. They probably won't awaken their other kekkei genkai."

"Shut up!" Sasuke yelled, his sharingan activated. "Keiko, take your siblings and run! Get Naruto." The children were frozen. "Go!"

Keiko took Ran and Toshiro's hands and ran to the Hokage estate.

"Hokage-sama!" they beat on the door. Hinata opened the door and tried to make out their cries.

"Hey, isn't it Sumiko's kids! Come in, come in," Naruto grinned.

"No, kaa-san disappeared! Orochimaru is here!" Keiko said.

Naruto sighed. "Hinata, do you mind watching over them?"

"No, it's fine," Hinata smiled at the scared children.

Naruto walked out and got to the Uchiha estate as fast as he could.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke was on the floor, barely conscious.

"What happened, teme?" Naruto shook him.

"Orochimaru…he went after Sumiko," Sasuke said. "He said…he'd bring her back," Sasuke sighed.

Naruto felt a huge amount of chakra being released. He ran to the window and saw black flames in the air.

Running out, he gasped.

"Sumiko!" Naruto yelled. Sumiko gritted her teeth and more blood ran down her face as she tried to burn the snake to ashes.

Her sword was on fire and she was shooting ice at the snake as she used her other arm to lash out with snake summons.

Orochimaru cried out as the black flames managed to burn off his hand. He growled and kicked her so hard that she went flying into the Hokage monument, barely missing Naruto's face.

She gasped as Orochimaru was about to stab her, but her cursed seal kicked in. Her skin became grey and she grew wings and fangs. A fireball raced towards him at almost point-blank range. Even though ashes were all that remained of him, she felt her curse mark recede and it began to burn. She tried to cover it with ice, but it kept burning, hotter and hotter. She screamed as she fell down to the ground. Naruto managed to catch her in time, but she stabbed him with an ice spear.

"Don't…" Sumiko managed to say. She screamed louder as the curse mark began to cover her body again. Sakura was running there.

However, Sumiko had decided she had only one option left. She put herself in a block of ice and fell into a blissful unconscious state.

* * *

><p>She opened her eyes briefly to see Sasuke kneeling, crying. Ran was there as well, but Sasuke slapped her. She closed her eyes just in time so that Sasuke wouldn't see her. Sasuke must've seen her; he beat on the ice. Sumiko hardened the ice around it until he ended up breaking his hand.<p>

The next time he came, he was in a cast. Her eyes studied him, despite her weakening eyesight.

"Sumiko, please come out…" Sasuke said. Sumiko looked at him. He stared back, pleading.

"If you don't, the kids will be left with my terrible cooking and then they wouldn't have anyone to spar against since they'd eventually get better than me," Sasuke felt tears roll down his cheeks. Sumiko hated that face, that crying helpless face. She felt the curse mark burn again and she clawed at it until she felt a warm liquid come out, blood. Sasuke gasped.

"Sumiko!" Sasuke yelled. A few mintues later, Keiko came over. She showed her report card: the best in her class. Sumiko gritted her teeth and didn't open her eyes; the pain was too great.

After much effort, Naruto managed to break the ice. Sumiko screamed as Sasuke held her. The curse mark was hurting more than she'd ever thought possible. Sumiko thrashed until Sasuke managed to get seals on her and she didn't move. She looked around for a second and saw she was in some room.

Sakura came in and tried to stop the pain. After focusing all her chakra on that one spot for about twenty long minutes, Sakura stopped.

"You'll be fine for now. If it starts to hurt again, come by the hospital," Sakura said. Sumiko nodded and in a tired haze, was brought back home. Silence echoed in the house as she lay in bed.

A knock interrupted her current state of thought.

"Kaa-san?" Keiko walked in. Sumiko moved to look at her daughter.

"Ran is really…sorry," Keiko mumbled nervously.

"Tell her to come over here," Sumiko said. "I'll teach her something."

Keiko nodded and ran off.

"Kaa-san?" Ran walked in. "I—"

"Yeah, yeah, you're sorry and all that crap. I don't want to hear your whining. Come with me," Sumiko grabbed her daughter's hand and pulled her outside. Sasuke looked up from paperwork and smiled.

"W-what?" Ran asked, avoiding eye contact.

"I'm going to teach you a signature Uchiha fire release technique," Sumiko said. "These are the signs. Learn them." Sumiko demonstrated over and over until Ran could do it as fast as any genin could when not under fire.

"Good. Tomorrow I'll teach you how to mold your chakra and make flames," Sumiko said.

"Thank you, kaa-san," Ran bowed.

"What, you don't want a demonstration?" Sumiko asked. Ran nodded, uneasy. Sumiko weaved the signs at blind speed and fire came out of her mouth.

"Like that," Sumiko said. Ran nodded and went off.

* * *

><p>"Really?" Minato asked, biting into his lunch.<p>

"Yeah. She's going slowly though. I wish she'd teach me everything she knew," Ran said.

"Well, I think then you wouldn't need to be here. I feel like civilian parents teach their kids everything and we have to actually ask from our parents. Like they don't want us to be better or something," Minato said. "I wish my dad would teach me some of his signature techniques."

"I doubt I'll be learning much of anything soon," Ran said.

After school that day, Minato chatted with Ran about the new material they'd read.

"I still can't believe your mom was that cool!" Minato whined.

"So I'm not cool?" Hinata was waiting for her son by the gate.

"You are, but Sumiko-san apparently has two kekkei genkai's!" Minato exclaimed. From the shadows, Sumiko grabbed him. He screamed in alarm.

"I didn't know Iruka-sensei put that in there," Sumiko looked at Hinata. She shrugged.

"Can we see your kekkei genkai?" Minato asked, his blue eyes pleading.

Sumiko frowned. Sighing, she nodded. With her regular three-tomoe sharingan and ice in her hands, she unsuppressed her ice shield.

"Attack me," Sumiko said. Minato charged at her with the regular taijutsu stance.

"Huh?" Minato was confused as ice suddenly appeared and protected Sumiko.

"Yeah. This is a variation of the Kazekage's sand ultimate defense. This is my ice ultimate defense," Sumiko said. "Enough of me. What did you two learn today?"

"About throwing kunai and the Fourth Ninja World War," Minato said.

"Let's go home, Ran," Sumiko pulled her daughter away.

* * *

><p>"When will you teach me?" Toshiro tugged on Sasuke's shirt. Sasuke shot Sumiko an uneasy look. She simply looked back.<p>

"Maybe…tomorrow," Sasuke smiled.

"Kaa-san, can you help me with this writing assignment?" Keiko handed her mother the paper that had guidelines for the writing assignment.

Sumiko read it over and tensed slightly. Sasuke looked up.

"Sure," Sumiko said after a moment. She walked to her daughter's room.

"So, who was this 'Haku' guy?" Keiko frowned. Sumiko clenched her fists.

"I'll give you the easy explanation. He was a ninja from Kirigakure who fled and eventually ended up with Momochi Zabuza, one of the Seven Swordsmen," Sumiko said carefully.

"Why did he run away?" Keiko asked.

"He possessed a kekkei genkai. You've heard of Kiri's past prejudice, haven't you?"

"Yeah," Keiko wrote this down as a note. "What type of kekkei genkai?"

Sumiko looked out the window. She didn't respond.

"I don't remember. As your father," Sumiko said. She walked out and took a long walk.

She found herself by the cenotaph.

"Sumiko?" Kakashi asked, walking up.

"Kakashi," Sumiko replied.

"What brings you here?"

She shook her head.

"Is Sasuke treating you okay? Are your children alright?"

"They're fine," Sumiko read the names over and over. Kakashi didn't push it.

After twenty minutes, Sumiko felt her daughter's chakra searching for her. Sumiko clenched her fists and ended up freezing the ground underneath her.

"Kaa-san!" Keiko stopped and panted. She gave her mother a cautious look. "Why couldn't you tell me?"

"My wounds haven't healed," Sumiko gave her daughter a meaningful look.

"What do you mean?" Keiko frowned. Sumiko glanced at Kakashi.

"Keiko-chan, your mother has led a hard life. She was the top of her class, the best in her team, the strongest kunoichi, and an S-Rank nuke-nin. However, as her guardian, I couldn't protect her from suffering and revenge. As a result, her heart became dark with only one thing left: Haku," Kakashi said. "When he died—"

"Murdered," Sumiko corrected. Keiko's eyes widened.

"Sumiko almost destroyed the village," Kakashi finished.

Keiko didn't know how to react.

"It may seem like I'm good at everything, but if there's something I'm terrible at, it's that I'm a coward. If you want to surpass me, get stronger," Sumiko said. She took her daughter's hand and disappeared to her house.

**A/N This is most likely the last chapter! Hehe, I've never finished anything so this is interesting!**


	19. Sequel?

So, do you all want a sequel? I'm fine with writing a sequel. Review yes or no and them I'll see from there.

This is a really short A/N…hehe. Please review because I know for a fact that barely any of you actually review. Yes, you.

Sequel~ Yes? No?


End file.
